Comparative Laboratory Tests of Thermal Conductivity of Road Materials Using Two Measurement Methods

Area of Science:

• Civil Engineering
• Materials Science
• Geotechnical Engineering

Background:

• Thermal conductivity is crucial for analyzing road pavement structures.
• Accurate thermal properties are essential for performance and environmental impact assessments.
• Existing methods for determining thermal conductivity vary in efficiency and reliability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare and evaluate thermal conductivity test results from two distinct measurement methods.
• To assess the differences between steady-state and transient methods when applied to road materials.
• To provide data for accurate thermal analysis of pavement structures.

Main Methods:

• Determined thermal conductivity using both steady-state and transient measurement techniques.
• Tested two common road materials: asphalt mixture and cement concrete.
• Performed statistical analysis to evaluate differences in results (significance level α = 0.05).

Main Results:

• Statistically significant differences were observed between the steady-state and transient methods for both materials.
• Average differences were approximately 10% for asphalt mixtures and 11% for cement concretes.
• Transient method showed higher result dispersion compared to the steady-state method.

Conclusions:

• The choice of thermal conductivity testing method significantly impacts results for road materials.
• Findings are vital for precise thermal and coupled thermal/structural analysis of pavements.
• This research supports applications in urban heat island mitigation and solar energy utilization in road infrastructure.