Efficient Joule heaters based on mineral-impregnated carbon-fiber reinforcing grids: An experimental and numerical study on a multifunctional concrete structure as an electrothermal device

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Abstract

This study introduces the design and realization of an electrothermal-enabled reinforcing grid based on mineral-impregnated carbon-fibers (MCFs) for efficient and low-power-consuming de-icing of a geopolymer (GP) concrete surface. Initially, carbon fiber (CF) yarns were impregnated with a GP suspension through a custom-made production line. Then, particular fresh MCFs were further processed via vacuum bagging, resulting in two different profile shapes with differentiated mechanical and physicochemical properties. The as-produced MCF structures were assessed regarding their electrothermal performance whereby the most efficient were employed as heating elements for assembling the reinforcing grid as Joule heater device. The obtained multifunctional reinforced concrete composite demonstrated de-icing effectiveness for an applied DC voltage of 2.2 V, corresponding to a surface temperature of 45 °C with a significantly low required heating power of 95.6 W/m2 in relation to similar studies. The experimental work was validated using a coupled field of electrothermal modelling. The proposed modular design offers unique potential and flexibility for large-area uniform and responsive de-icing applications via multiple interconnected multifunctional reinforcing grids.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number118898
Number of pages12
JournalCarbon
Volume222 (2024)
Publication statusPublished - 3 Feb 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85186265325
Mendeley 5c43ce0c-8754-39e7-9e2d-ca9b36e21376

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

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ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Geopolymer concrete, Numerical simulation, Smart reinforcements, Mineral-impregnated carbon fiber, Joule effect