Inexpensive Anti-Icing Concrete Material for Application to Tunnel and Slope Engineering Infrastructures in Cold Regions

Abstract

The formation of ice hangings on the surfaces of concrete tunnel linings and sloped rock masses in cold regions endangers railroad and highway traffic. However, an inexpensive anti-icing material that meets both performance and cost requirements has not yet been developed for application in tunnel and slope engineering infrastructures in cold regions. Most current advanced anti-icing materials are expensive, and fabrication and spraying are both cumbersome, which limits their widespread application to tunnel and slope engineering. Because concrete is a widely used construction material owing to its excellent mechanical properties and low cost, we developed an inexpensive, environmentally friendly anti-icing concrete material (AICM). The AICM can be easily fabricated and sprayed onto the surfaces of large-area concrete or rock substrates and exhibits excellent superhydrophobicity (CA: 151°, SA: 6.7°), surface robustness, water resistance, chemical durability, good anti-icing, easy deicing (deicing stress: 0.06 MPa), and excellent long-term durability in freeze−thaw cycles in low-temperature environments. In addition, a novel fractal theory-based model of ice adhesion shear stress was developed and revealed the mechanism through which an AICM with a composite micro/nanostructure easily deices. The AICM has good application prospects and serves as an important guide for mitigating the formation of ice hangings in tunnel and slope engineering infrastructures in cold regions.

Preparation of Mechanically Stable Superamphiphobic Coatings via Combining Phase Separation of Adhesive and Fluorinated SiO2 for Anti-Icing

“…The anti-icing performance of various materials is often evaluated by testing the water freezing time and the ice adhesion strength [ 42 , 43 ]. The freezing time of methylene blue stained water droplets (60 μL) on the Al alloy plate and the SPET/FD-POS@SiO 2 coated Al alloy plate was measured at −5 °C and 60% relative humidity.…”

The Workability and Mechanical Performance of Fly Ash Cenosphere–Desert Sand Ceramsite Concrete: An Experimental Study and Analysis

“…Jayawardena [ 7 ] prepared C25 and C30 DS concrete, proving that DS could be used to prepare concrete directly, without any special treatment. Zhou [ 14 ] investigated the effects of the DS replacing ratio, fly ash mixing amount and sand rate on the compressive strength of concrete under low temperatures. The results showed that DS concrete demonstrated good mechanical performance at low temperatures.…”