Abstract
Conventional asphalt pavements can withstand the traffic loading and provide safe, comfortable driving conditions, however, the intelligent functionality on self-monitoring and damage detection is also required for the construction of intelligent transport systems. This study develops a self-sensing conductive asphalt concrete inspired by smart cement-based materials, which is capable of continuous, real-time monitoring of stress, strain, and damage, enabling structural health monitoring (SHM) of asphalt pavements. The self-sensing characteristics relies on the piezoresistive effects that the internal conductive network deforms and causes measurable changes in electrical resistance under mechanical loading. To achieve this, carbon nanomaterials, graphene nanoplates (GNPs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MCNTs), were incorporated into the asphalt matrix to fabricate a conductive asphalt concrete with enhanced conductivity and sensing properties. Results show that the incorporation of GNPs and MCNTs transforms the asphalt mixture from an insulator to a conductor, primarily through the contact between conductive fillers as well as the tunneling mechanism. The GNPs/MCNTs modified asphalt concrete exhibits significant and complicated piezoresistive responses under different loading conditions. This behaviour can be attributed to multiple interacting mechanisms within the conductive network, including proximity effects, microcrack formation, and dislocation of conductive paths, which causes remarkable changes in the electrical resistance under stress.
Keywords
smart asphalt concrete, conductive carbon nanomaterials, self-sensing properties, piezoresistive behaviours, structural health monitoring.
DOI
10.5703/1288284318101
Recommended Citation
Xie, Mingjun; Lin, Leqing; Yin, Yilin; Xu, Linglin; Wu, Kai; and Jiang, Zhengwu, "Advancing Monitoring and Self-sensing Capabilities of Smart Asphalt Concrete containing Conductive Carbon Nanofillers" (2025). International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures. 2.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/icdcs/2025/tmc/2
Advancing Monitoring and Self-sensing Capabilities of Smart Asphalt Concrete containing Conductive Carbon Nanofillers
Conventional asphalt pavements can withstand the traffic loading and provide safe, comfortable driving conditions, however, the intelligent functionality on self-monitoring and damage detection is also required for the construction of intelligent transport systems. This study develops a self-sensing conductive asphalt concrete inspired by smart cement-based materials, which is capable of continuous, real-time monitoring of stress, strain, and damage, enabling structural health monitoring (SHM) of asphalt pavements. The self-sensing characteristics relies on the piezoresistive effects that the internal conductive network deforms and causes measurable changes in electrical resistance under mechanical loading. To achieve this, carbon nanomaterials, graphene nanoplates (GNPs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MCNTs), were incorporated into the asphalt matrix to fabricate a conductive asphalt concrete with enhanced conductivity and sensing properties. Results show that the incorporation of GNPs and MCNTs transforms the asphalt mixture from an insulator to a conductor, primarily through the contact between conductive fillers as well as the tunneling mechanism. The GNPs/MCNTs modified asphalt concrete exhibits significant and complicated piezoresistive responses under different loading conditions. This behaviour can be attributed to multiple interacting mechanisms within the conductive network, including proximity effects, microcrack formation, and dislocation of conductive paths, which causes remarkable changes in the electrical resistance under stress.
