Effect of the experimental parameters on the ice-asphalt adhesion strength and corresponding theoretical model based on the energy-balanced principle

Abstract

Ice adhesion behavior plays a crucial role in assessing ice-phobic materials. However, the variation of ice-adhesion strength across different laboratories is attributed to the neglect of ice/substrate characteristics. In this work, ice-adhesion strength under different geometric parameters of ice/substrate on asphalt surfaces was examined through an optimized methodology. Additionally, a theoretical model was developed based on the energy balance principle to analyze the influence of various parameters on ice-adhesion strength and to make predictions. The results suggested that the ice-adhesion strength was positively correlated with the substrate thickness and negatively correlated with both the asphalt thickness and the ice diameter. The detachment process of the ice-asphalt interface was divided into two regions, the non-linear mechanical response region, and the linear damage region. The slope of the linear damage region can be defined as the interfacial stiffness of the ice-asphalt system, which was the main reason leading to the change in ice adhesion strength. The increase in ice-adhesion strength was observed as the interfacial stiffness increased. Moreover, the theoretical model of ice-adhesion strength illustrated the effect of ice/substrate geometric characteristics on ice-adhesion strength and was verified by the experiments. This study may provide some new references and a theoretical basis for further research on ice adhesion behavior in different laboratories.