Investigation of Induction Heating in Asphalt Mortar: Numerical Approach

The research reported in this paper focuses on utilization of advanced finite-element analyses (COMSOL) for the design and assessment of the induction heating capacity of asphalt mortar by adding electrically conductive additives (e.g., steel fibers), and to understand the factors that influence the mechanisms of induction heating in asphalt mixtures. In order to determine numerically the effective electrical and thermal properties of the conductive asphalt mortar with different volumes of steel fibers, 3D finite element meshes were generated by using X-ray images and utilized for calibration of the model parameters to perform a more realistic simulation of the asphalt mixture induction healing. The findings of this research are part of a study to provide an optimization method for the development of the necessary tools and equipment that will enable the implementation of induction technology for healing of asphalt concrete mixtures.