Modeling snow melting on heated pavement surfaces. Part I: Model development

Abstract

Hydronic or electric heating of pavement surfaces has been used in the prevention of ice formation and snow deposition with the aim of improving transportation safety. This paper describes a numerical model of a heated pavement and the snow melting processes occurring on its surface. A set of boundary conditions have been defined, and models of heat and mass transfer developed, that allow treatment of various surface and weather conditions associated with storm events. Given heat fluxes and weather data, this model can predict the transient surface conditions and temperatures including the extent of snow cover. Model development is described in this paper and its application to a representative snow melting system illustrated. A companion paper presents a validation exercise using data collected from a full-scale bridge snow melting system during a real storm event.