Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Conductive Concrete Overlay For Bridge Deck Deicing: Mixture Proportioning, Optimization, And Properties, Sherif Yehia, Christopher Tuan

Christopher Y. Tuan

Bridge pavement surfaces are prone to ice accumulation, making winter travel hazardous. Current practice is to use road salt and deicing chemicals, that cause damage to concrete and corrosion of reinforcing steel. A thin conductive concrete overlay can generate enough heat to prevent ice formation on a bridge deck. Conductive concrete is a cementitious admixture containing electrically conductive components that attain stable and high electrical conductivity. Due to the electrical resistance and impedance in conductive concrete, heat is generated when connected to a power source, and can be used for deicing or anti-icing. Conductive concrete is a relatively new material …

Conductive Concrete As An Electromagnetic Shield, A. Krause, L. Nguyen, Christopher Tuan

Christopher Y. Tuan

Conductive concrete mixture was originally developed for surface de-icing purposes but can be designed to perform as an electromagnetic shield. Testing procedures have been developed to measure the attenuation provided by conductive concrete without the cost and labor of building a large structure. This paper provides a description of the design, testing methods, and results obtained from the development of conductive concrete as an electromagnetic shielding material.

Conductive Concrete: A Shielding Constructurion Material, A. P. Krause, L. Nguyen, Christopher Y. Tuan, J. D. Blasey

Christopher Y. Tuan

Shielding against electromagnetic phenomenon is an increasingly important consideration on a global scale. Solar storms, privacy from electronic surveillance, and EMP weapons are just a few of the concerns that must be addressed. Current methods of protection are subject to high cost and often limited in scalability. Conductive concrete is a promising solution to both of these limitations. By adding several simple materials to traditional concrete, a new type of constructible electromagnetic shield can be produced. The following will discuss the design and testing of conductive concrete for EM shielding as well as the results of those tests.

Bridge Deck Deicing, Sherif A. Yehia, Christopher Y. Tuan

Christopher Y. Tuan

Concrete bridge decks are prone to ice accumulation. The use of road salts and chemicals for deicing is cost effective but causes damage to concrete and corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete bridge decks. This problem is a major concern to transportation officials and public works due to rapid degradation of existing concrete pavements and bridge decks. The use of insulation materials for ice control and electric or thermal heating for deicing have been attempted and met limited success. Conductive concrete may be defined as a cementitious composite, which contains a certain amount of electronically conductive components to attain stable …

Airfield Pavement Deicing With Conductive Concrete Overlay, Sherif Yehia, Christopher Tuan

Christopher Y. Tuan

Conductive concrete is a cementitious admixture containing a certain volumetric ratio of electrically conductive materials to attain high and stable electrical conductivity. Due to its electrical resistance, a thin overlay of conductive concrete can generate enough heat to prevent ice formation when energized by AC power. Under a research sponsored by Nebraska Department of Roads, Yehia and Tuan developed a mix specifically for concrete bridge deck deicing while meeting the ASTM and AASHTO strength specifications for overlay construction. An average thermal power of 591 W/m2 (55 W/ft2) with a heating rate of 0.56oC/min (1oF/min) was generated by a 1.2 m …

Implementation Of Conductive Concrete Overlay For Bridge Deck Deicing At Roca, Nebraska, Christopher Y. Tuan, Sherif A. Yehia

Christopher Y. Tuan

Conductive concrete is a relatively new material technology developed to achieve high electrical conductivity and high mechanical strength. In research sponsored by Nebraska Department of Roads, a conductive concrete mix specifically for bridge deck deicing was developed. In this application, a conductive concrete overlay is cast on top of a bridge deck for deicing and anti-icing.

This technology has been successfully implemented in a demonstration project at Roca, about 15 mi south of Lincoln, Nebraska. The Roca Spur Bridge has a 36-m (117-ft) long and 8.5- m (28-ft) wide conductive concrete inlay. Temperature sensors and a microprocessor-based controller system were …