Thermal Properties of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Lightweight Substrate for Ecological Slope Protection

A new ecological substrate is proposed to achieve a desired electric conduction and heating to protect the slope plants from freeze injury. Expanded polystyrene (EPS), cement, carbon fiber, graphite, and raw soil are the main components of the ecological substrate. The electrical conductivity, heating efficiency, thermo-sensitivity, and heat preservation of the substrate are experimentally investigated. The result shows that the addition of carbon fiber could significantly decrease resistivity of substrate, but the effect of fiber content exceeding 3% on the resistivity of substrate becomes insignificant. Conductive fine materials (i.e., carbon fiber and graphite powder) covering the surface of EPS would result in a significant reduction of the global resistivity of non-dry substrate, but it could only slightly affect the counterpart of the completely dry substrates. The substrate could hardly be formed when the EPS content exceeds 4%. As EPS content increases, the contact surface decreases and the resistivity of the substrate increases. The peak temperature at 30 min of substrate without root is higher than that of substrate with plant roots. Nevertheless, the temperature alteration ratio below 40 °C of substrate with plant root is nearly the same as its counterpart in the substrate without roots. The resistance of the substrate with plant roots increases with the temperature. The resistance of rootless substrate decreases by the heat action of the loosely bound water. EPS particles improve the heat preservation performance of substrate, but the heat preservation performance of substrate degrades with the growth of plants.

[1]  Mariusz Szymanowski,et al.  Effects of land abandonment and climate change on soil erosion—An example from depopulated agricultural lands in the Sudetes Mts., SW Poland , 2016 .

[2]  Huihai Ye,et al.  The use of air bricks for planting roadside vegetation: A new technique to improve landscaping of steep roadsides in China's Hubei Province , 2010 .

[3]  Bingquan Chen,et al.  Conductive Concrete Overlay for Bridge Deck Deicing: Mixture Proportioning, Optimization, and Properties , 2000 .

[4]  Ning Liu,et al.  Experimental study of the influence of EPS particle size on the mechanical properties of EPS lightweight concrete , 2014 .

[5]  Faisal Ali,et al.  Use of vegetation for slope protection: Root mechanical properties of some tropical plants , 2010 .

[6]  Fu Jin-min Cold tolerance of Cynodon dactylon seedlings from different provenances , 2011 .

[7]  John N. Quinton,et al.  Plant diversity and root traits benefit physical properties key to soil function in grasslands , 2016, Ecology letters.

[8]  Michael D. Robeson,et al.  Application of erosion-resistant fibers in the recovery of vegetation on steep slopes in the Loess Plateau of China , 2018 .

[9]  Antonio Aguado,et al.  Flexural behaviour of light-weight sandwich panels composed by concrete and EPS , 2012 .

[10]  Gu Ren-guo,et al.  Experiment Study on the Effects of Adsorbed Water on Rheological Characteristics of Soft Clayey Soil , 2007 .

[11]  Ling Qiang Yang,et al.  Analysis of Rock Slope Stability Using Anti-Slide Pile , 2012 .

[12]  Kim Nam-choon Ecological restoration and revegetation works in Korea , 2005, Landscape and Ecological Engineering.

[13]  M. Founti,et al.  Thermal performance of a building envelope incorporating ETICS with vacuum insulation panels and EPS , 2014 .

[14]  Hong Xu Research on Anchor Characteristics of Anchorage Body Consideration of Bolt Corrosion , 2011 .

[15]  Erik Cammeraat,et al.  Vegetation Succession and its Consequences for Slope Stability in SE Spain , 2005, Plant and Soil.

[16]  P. Aarne Vesilind,et al.  The role of water in sludge dewatering , 1994 .

[17]  Yasir Rashid,et al.  Energy Performance Assessment of Waste Materials for Buildings in Extreme Cold and Hot Conditions , 2018, Energies.

[18]  Shaopeng Wu,et al.  Study on the graphite and carbon fiber modified asphalt concrete , 2011 .

[19]  R Freer Bio-engineering: the use of vegetation in civil engineering , 1991 .

[20]  Xu Wen-nian Discussion on Material Spraying Methods of Slope Protection and Revegetation , 2004 .

[21]  Alexia Stokes,et al.  How vegetation reinforces soil on slopes , 2008 .

[22]  Waiching Tang,et al.  Development of Vegetation-Pervious Concrete in Grid Beam System for Soil Slope Protection , 2017, Materials.

[23]  Ping Wang,et al.  Resistivity measurement of conductive asphalt concrete based on two-electrode method , 2013 .

[24]  Q. Ma,et al.  Experimental study on the soil mixture to promote vegetation for slope protection and landslide prevention , 2017, Landslides.

[25]  Lian-heng Zhao,et al.  Response of gravity retaining wall with anchoring frame beam supporting a steep rock slope subjected to earthquake loading , 2017 .

[26]  Li Guorong,et al.  Relationship between mechanical characteristics and anatomical structures of slope protection plant root. , 2009 .

[27]  Yan Liu,et al.  Study on the Produce Process and Electrical Resistivity of Carbon Fiber Conductive Concrete , 2014 .

[28]  Kenichi Soga,et al.  Fundamentals of Soil Behaviour , 2005 .

[29]  Qiang Ma,et al.  Functionality Study on Light-Weight Ecological Substrate , 2018, Energies.

[30]  Ya Chuan Kuang,et al.  Test on Corrosion Resistance of GFRP Anchor Bolt , 2012 .

[31]  Fabio Lombardi,et al.  The influence of slope on Spartium junceum root system: morphological, anatomical and biomechanical adaptation , 2017, Journal of Plant Research.

[32]  Aaron J. Patton,et al.  Zoysiagrass Species and Genotypes Differ in Their Winter Injury and Freeze Tolerance , 2007 .