Crack repair of asphalt concrete with induction energy
A. García1, E. Schlangen1, M. van de Ven2, D. van Vliet3
1 Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Micromechanics Laboratory, Delft, the Netherlands
2 Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Road and Railway Engineering, Delft, the Netherlands
3 TNO, Built Environment and Geosciences, Delft, the Netherlands
It is well known that the healing rates of asphalt courses increase with the temperature. A new method, induction heating, is used in this paper to increase the lifetime of asphalt concrete pavements. Mastic will be first made electrically conductive by the addition of conductive fibers. Then it will be heated via induction energy. This will repair the damage in the pavement, closing the cracks that could have appeared during its lifetime. Adding too much heat will melt the binder completely and the properties of the material will be lost. In the paper it is shown how this method can be repeated many times for samples that are completely broken and that the evolution of the mechanical resistance of specimens that are broken is limited. It will also be shown how the chemical properties of the bitumen do not change due to heating.
Key words: Induction heating, conductive mastic, steel wool, self healing