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.

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.

For strengthening sustainability of subgrade life-cycle service performance and storing industry solid wastes in seasonally frozen regions, compared to previous research of modified silty clay (MC) which consisted of oil shale ash (OSA), fly ash (FA), and silty clay (SC), we identified for the first time, the variations in the thermal insulation capability of MC with different levels of dry density and moisture content. Taking into consideration the effects of 0–20 freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles by a laboratory test, and by the numerical simulation of coupling moisture-temperature, while considering the effects of F-T cycles, the thermal insulation capability of the MC board and the XPS board were studied quantitatively. The testing results show that the thermal conductivity of MC and SC gradually decreases as the number of F-T cycles increases, and that of the XPS board increases with the increased number of F-T cycles, and tend to be of a constant value of 0.061 W/m/K after 17 F-T cycles. The specific heat capacity of the solid particles of the MC, SC, and XPS board does not change regularly as their moisture content, and the number of F-T cycles change, and their variations are in the range of the test error (2%). Simulation results show that MC has the advantage of the thermal insulation property to reduce the frost-depth of 0.21 m, and the thermal insulation property of the composite layer consisting of the MC and XPS board is greater to reduce the frost-depth of 0.55 m, so that it can protect both the SC and sand gravel of the experimental road from the frost heave damage. The research methods and results are very significant in accurately evaluating the thermal insulation capacity and the sustainability of MC and the composite layer consisting of the MC and XPS board, strengthening the stability of the subgrade and increasing the availability of industrial waste.

To achieve the purposes of disposing industry solid wastes and enhancing the sustainability of subgrade life-cycle service performance in seasonally frozen regions compared to previous research of modified silty clay (MSC) composed of oil shale ash (OSA), fly ash (FA), and silty clay (SC), we identified for the first time the axial deformation characteristics of MSC with different levels of cycle load number, dynamic stress ratio, confining pressure, loading frequency, and F-T cycles; and corresponding to the above conditions, the normalized and logarithmic models on the plastic cumulative strain prediction of MSC are established. For the effect of cycle load number, results show that the cumulative plastic strain of MSC after 1, 10, and 100 cycle loads occupies for 28.72%~35.31%, 49.86%~55.59%, and 70.87%~78.39% of those after 8000 cycle loads, indicating that MSC possesses remarkable plastic stability after 100 cycles of cycle loads. For the effect of dynamic stress ratio, confining pressure, loading frequency, and F-T cycles, results show that dynamic stress ratio and F-T cycles are important factors affecting the axial deformation of MSC after repeated cycle loads; and under the low dynamic stress ratio, increasing confining pressure and loading frequency have insignificant effect on the axial strain of MSC after 8000 loads. In term of the normalized and logarithmic models on the plastic cumulative strain prediction of MSC, they have a high correlation coefficient with testing data, and according to the above models, the predicted result shows that the cumulative plastic strain of MSC ranges from 0.38 cm to 2.71 cm, and these predicted values are within the requirements in the related standards of highway subgrades and railway, indicating that the cumulative plastic strain of MSC is small and MSC is suitable to be used as the subgrade materials.