Carbon-fiber-grid heated pavement for deicing and snow melting: The role of design parameters and environmental conditions

Carbon-fiber-grid heated pavements offer a promising solution for all-weather deicing and snow melting at high-altitude, cold-region airports. However, the impact of key design parameters and environmental conditions on system performance has not been fully explored. This study investigates the deicing and snow-melting performance of carbon-fiber-grid heated pavements and the optimization of their structure through a combination of laboratory and full-scale field tests. The results show that cement concrete integrated with carbon fiber cable-reinforced composite grids enhances electrothermal conversion efficiency, high-temperature resistance, freeze-thaw durability, and mechanical strength. Adjusting design parameters, such as reducing grid embedment depth, reducing cable spacing, or increasing power density, improves temperature uniformity and deicing efficiency. However, these changes can complicate construction. Under controlled environmental conditions, deicing and snow-melting performance is reduced by lower ambient temperatures, higher wind speeds, and increased snowfall intensity. These environmental challenges can be mitigated by optimizing both structural design and operational parameters. By balancing deicing effectiveness with construction feasibility, the recommended design parameters for high-altitude, cold-region airports are an embedment depth of 10–15 cm, cable spacing of 5–10 cm, and a power density of 300–500 W/m2. This research provides valuable insights and practical guidelines to improve the performance and real-world application of carbon-fiber-grid heated pavements.