To reduce the impact of road ice and snow disaster, it is necessary to adopt low energy consumption and efficient active deicing and snow melting methods. In this article, three functional components are combined into a conductive ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber composite material with good interface bonding. Among them, the mechanical and electrical properties of the composite material are enhanced by using carbon fiber cloth as a heating layer. EPDM rubber plays a mainly protective role. Further, aluminum silicate fiber cloth is used as a thermal insulation layer. The mechanical properties of EPDM rubber composites reinforced by carbon fiber cloth and the thermal behaviors of the composite material in high and low temperature environments were studied. The heat generation and heat transfer effect of the composite were analyzed by electrothermal tests. The results show that the conductive EPDM rubber composite material has good temperature durability, outstanding mechanical stability, and excellent heat production capacity. The feasibility of the material for road active deicing and snow melting is verified. It is a kind of electric heating deicing material with broad application prospects.

To achieve the purposes of storing industry solid wastes and enhancing subgrade stability in seasonally frozen regions, Structure III, which utilized the modified silty clay (SC) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) board as a novel subgrade thermal insulation layer (NSTIL), was presented. The above modified SC consisted of oil shale industry solid waste, fly ash and SC. In terms of environmental impact, the average single pollution index, the Nemerow integrated pollution index and national standards were carried out to estimate whether the modified SC could be used as a subgrade filler. These results show that, although the modified SC will produce pollution to the environmental background, the concentration of each hydrochemical constituent from the modified SC meets the corresponding national standards in China. In terms of the thermal insulation capability, the numerical simulation of coupling moisture and temperature was applied to analyze that of Structures I, II and III. The research results show that the numerical results of the Structure I are approximated to the official website information of Jilin province, indicating that the above numerical simulation is effective for coupling moisture and temperature of frozen soil. Both modified SC and NSTIL have the advantage of good thermal insulation property, but the thermal insulation property of the NSTIL is greater. Furthermore, the NSTIL at the top of the Structure III can protect the SC of the experimental road from the damage of frost heave. The research results are of great significance for reducing environmental pollution caused by oil shale industry solid waste and fly ash, increasing the utilization rate of industrial waste and enhancing the subgrade stability in seasonally frozen regions.

This study aims to develop a new type of road active deicing material that can efficiently and quickly remove ice/snow while meeting the mechanical properties requirements. A conductive ethylene–propylene–diene monomer (EPDM) rubber composite material with active deicing and snow melting is put forward. The composite material consisted of three layers: (1) a heat transfer layer prepared by adding graphite into EPDM rubber, (2) carbon fiber cloth sandwiched in EPDM rubber as a heat generating layer, and (3) an insulation layer composed of aluminum silicate fiber cloth and EPDM rubber. The three layers were vulcanized into one at high temperature and pressure. Tests for mechanical and electrothermal properties were carried out. The results show that graphite can improve the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of EPDM rubber. The resistance of the composite material is low and stable. A large amount of heat can be generated in a short time at a low voltage. It is proven that the conductive EPDM rubber composite can be used as an active deicing material for roads.

Cement stabilized macadam semi-rigid base materials are widely used in road construction in China. However, a traditional static molding method and heavy compaction method cannot guide the design and engineering application of cement stabilized macadam mixture because it often appears that the compaction degree exceeds 100% in the practical engineering. In view of this, this paper carried out the research of an indoor vibration compaction method of cement stabilized macadam mixture, and compared the mechanical properties and void distribution characteristics of two kinds of compositions of mixtures under the vibration compaction method as well as static pressure molding and heavy compaction method and on-site sample after 7 days curing period, which was combined with the physical engineering project of Yu-Song Expressway in Jilin Province, China. The research results show that the maximum dry density of mixture under vibration compaction is larger and the best moisture content is smaller, which has a heavy incomparable advantage on the simulation of on-site compaction. And the compressive strength and splitting strength indexes of vibration compacted specimens are close to those of an on-site sample, which are all larger than static pressure specimen. Moreover, the void distribution characteristics of vibration compacted specimens is much closer to those of the on-site sample and more universal, while static pressure specimens lack in uniformity. In addition, different results caused by the two gradation are compared. All of the above research results can verify that the vibration compaction method has more reliability and accuracy to simulate the actual properties of base material. This study provides a reference for the application of vibration compaction method in road engineering design.

To improve the environmental friendliness and sustainability of road deicing and snow melting, a kind of conductive ethylene–propylene–diene monomer (EPDM) rubber composite material with a thermally conductive layer, a heat-generating layer, and a heat-insulation layer is presented. It is placed under the asphalt surface to generate heat for deicing and snow melting by means of electrical heating. Vehicle load is inevitable in the road environment. To determine the feasibility of composite material long-term applications in the road environment, this paper mainly studied the durability of composite materials under vehicle load by rutting tests, resistance stability tests, mechanical properties tests, and heating tests. The results show that it has good anti-deformation durability and resistance stability under vehicle load. It has good mechanical and electrothermal durability after undergoing vehicle load. The durability of the composite material meets the requirements of safety, stability, and sustainability for long-term use in deicing under vehicle load. It is used as active deicing and snow-melting material in the road environment under vehicle load with broad application prospects.

In order to study the effects of the microstructure parameters of cement modified subgrade silty soil (CMSS) in a frozen area under freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles on the macroscopic mechanical properties, the static triaxial test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and grey relation analysis (GRA) were implemented on silty soil modified with 0% and 2% cement at optimum moisture content from the northwest in Jilin Province in China. The results showed that the shear strength, the cohesion of 0% and 2% CMSS, decreased with the increase of F-T cycles, while the internal friction angle was not obviously changed. The shear strength and its parameters of 2% CMSS doubled compared to that of 0% CMSS. The micro-parameters, representing the particle morphological characteristics, particle arrangement, and pore characteristics of CMSS, changed differently under F-T cycles. If the cement was not added, the cohesion and the internal friction angle were most sensitive to the average particle diameter (D_p) and the average particle abundance (C), respectively. When the cement content was 2%, the cohesion was chiefly affected by the particle size fractal dimension (D_ps), while the internal friction angle was mainly related to the average pore diameter (D_h). The main principle of cement improvement was to decrease D_h of soil under F-T cycles.