MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF CONCRETE ADDED WITH SYNTHETIC GRAPHITE AND ITS APPLICATION TO EMBEDDED PIPE SNOW MELTING SYSTEM

Abstract

 This manuscript discusses the improvement of embedded pipe snow melting system pavement, which is one of the heavy-snow countermeasures used in snowy and cold regions. In order to efficiently transfer heat from heat dissipation pipes installed in the concrete pavement to the road surface, we proposed replacing part of the fine aggregates in concrete with synthetic graphite, which has high thermal conductivity. Laboratory tests were conducted on the compressive strength, flexural strength, and abrasion resistance of concrete added with the synthetic graphite. It was shown that the flexural and compressive strength satisfied the design values. However, it was found that abrasion resistance of the concrete decreased by adding the synthetic graphite. And then, large-scale test was conducted outdoors in snowy cold region. A significant snow melting effect was confirmed when the synthetic graphite was used. Furthermore, it was shown that when 10 to 20% of the fine aggregate in concrete was replaced with the synthetic graphite, it was possible to increase the amount of heat transferred from the heat dissipation pipes to the concrete pavement by 1.5 to 2.5 times.