Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117186

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

The thermoregulation effect of microencapsulated phase-change

materials in an asphalt mixture
Biao Ma a, Sha-sha Chen a,⇑, Yu-zheng Ren b, Xue-yan Zhou c
a
Key Laboratory for Special Area Highway Engineering of Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710064, China
b
CCCC First Highway Consultants Co., LTD, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710075, China
c
School of Modern Posts & Institute of Posts, Xi’an University of Posts & Telecommunications, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710064, China

h i g h l i g h t s

The latent heat storage capacity of the micro-PCM was referred to by use of the Ch.

Thermoregulation effect of three types of micro-PCMs were compared.

The high dosage of micro-PCMs improved the thermal properties of asphalt mixture.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Temperature plays an important role in the long-term performance and service life of pavement. With
Received 14 February 2019 the large-scale use of asphalt pavement, the paving industry is now more interested in the related pave-
Received in revised form 18 September ment distress generated by temperature. Against this background, this paper presents the test results for
2019
pure microencapsulated phase change materials (micro-PCMs), as well as asphalt mixtures containing
Accepted 6 October 2019
Available online 14 October 2019
micro-PCMs, with the aim of reducing the temperature difference. The latent heat storage capacity of
pure micro-PCMs was evaluated by the T-history method, and Ch was proposed to characterize their
latent heat storage capacity. Outdoor experiments were performed to observe the temperature change
Keywords:
Road engineering
behavior of seven asphalt mixture specimens manufactured by the wheel-grind method. Two specimens
Asphalt pavement were mixed with 5°C micro-PCMs, with micro-PCM contents of 0.3% and 0.5% respectively, substituting
Micro-PCM the equivalent amount of mineral filler. Another two specimens were mixed with 0 °C micro-PCMs, with
Latent heat storage capacity micro-PCM contents of 0.3% and 0.5%. Two other specimens were mixed with 5 °C micro-PCMs, with
Thermoregulation micro-PCM contents of 0.3% and 0.5%. The results show that the thermoregulation ranges of different
micro-PCMs differ. As the micro-PCM content increases, the temperature difference between the ordinary
AC-13 asphalt mixture and AC-13 mixed with micro-PCMs increases. The use of 5 °C micro-PCMs in an
asphalt mixture can significantly improve its thermal behavior.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction produce fatigue cracking under prolonged temperature distress.

The functional and structural performance of asphalt pavement
is significantly related to its temperature [1]. Additionally, temper-
ature is the main factor affecting asphalt pavement road perfor-
mance [2–4]. Temperature variations within the pavement
structure contribute in many different ways to the distress and
possible failure of that structure [5]. During a hot summer, an
increase in the moving vehicle load decreases the asphalt mixture’s
modulus, leading to large deflections and the jostle, piling up, wave
and rut of the facing layer [6,7]. In addition, pavement can easily
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: 13468844299@163.com (S.-s. Chen).
When the temperature suddenly drops, asphalt pavement cracks
due to a failure to rapidly release the internal stress [8,9]. From
autumn to winter, the road is often covered in snow or frost. The
presence of a frost layer provides poor skid resistance on asphalt
pavement. This can cause traffic accident rates to rise significantly
and low vehicle speeds that reduce automobile trip efficiency. All
of these directly affect the travelling safety and durability of
asphalt pavement. Therefore, how to improve asphalt pavement’s
high-temperature rut resistance, low-temperature anti-cracking
performance and anti-frost capability should be studied.
To date, solar energy seems to be the cheapest and most envi-
ronmentally friendly form of clean energy. However, solar energy
is only available during the day. Hence, its application requires

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117186
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 B. Ma et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117186
an efficient system for thermal energy storage so that the excess
heat collected during daylight hours may be stored for later use
[10]. Efficient and economical heat storage is the key to the effec-
tive and widespread utilization of solar energy for low-
temperature thermal applications. Phase change materials (PCMs)
take advantage of the latent heat that can be stored or released
from a material over a narrow temperature range [11]. They can
absorb thermal energy as they transform from solid to liquid,
and release it when returning to a solid [12]. The volume and ther-
mal conductivity of PCMs changes during the phase transforma-
tion. PCMs have the potential for use in asphalt pavement. As is
well known, hot-mix asphalt mixtures are always associated with
high temperature during the mixing process. In addition, aggre-
gates and stones rub against each other during the concrete mixing
process. And, PCMs leak easily during the melting process [13]. One
question that needs to be asked, however, is whether PCMs can be
encapsulated effectively, in case they leak during mixing. To
address the problem, the PCM needs to be stored in a carrier. In
microencapsulation, PCMs are coated with polymeric materials
[14], yielding microencapsulated phase-change materials (micro-
PCMs).
An increasing number of studies have addressed PCMs. Ma et al.
[15] used a membrane layer to encapsulate the PCM to prepare a
composite shape-stabilized phase change material (CPCM). The
proper proportion for CPCM preparation was determined by a
scanning electronic microscope, a differential scanning calorimeter
and an orthogonal test. In their another related study [16], four dif-
ferent kinds of CPCMs were prepared using pure PCM, silica pow-
der absorbed PCM, floating bead absorbed PCM and activated
carbon absorbed PCM as raw materials. The results showed that
compared to the other three CPCMs, the CPCM with activated car-
bon absorbed PCM as a raw material had a better high-
temperature stability and could meet the use demands for asphalt
mixtures. Taking the initiative to solve the asphalt pavement tem-
perature problems, Si et al. [17] proposed three different CPCM
thermoregulation types for use in asphalt pavement. Their study
proposed composite mass proportions for different thermoregula-
tion types and the corresponding enthalpy values. However, previ-
ous studies tend to ignore a CPCM’s inherent physical properties.
Recently, using a heat exchange system and a data acquisition sys-
tem, Ma et al. [18] determined the specific heat capacity of CPCM
and asphalt mixtures mixed with CPCM, intuitively reflecting
CPCM’s thermoregulation mechanism in asphalt mixtures. Using
PCM as the main component of an unsaturated organic acid and
a polypropylene carrier, Ma et al. [19] successfully prepared road
temperature-adjustment material (RTM). The results showed that
an asphalt mixture with RTM could actively adjust the working
temperature with a damping effect and enhance the asphalt mix-
ture’s temperature resistance capacity. Wei and Ma [20] summa-
rized the latest research progress on micro-PCMs worldwide. In
addition, the chemical methods for micro-PCM preparation were
introduced and the performance of micro-PCMs was analyzed.
Future development directions for micro-PCMs were also pro-
posed. Memon et al. [21] incorporated paraffin into porous light-
weight aggregates (LWAs) through vacuum impregnation.
Although PCMs have been widely used in the construction, mil-
itary, textile and agricultural fields, their application for roads is
still in the exploratory research stage [22]. Therefore, the purpose
of this study was to analyze the thermoregulation of a micro-PCM,
as well as its influence on the asphalt mixture. The PCM ther-
moregulation effect is a dynamic process that allows an asphalt
mixture containing PCMs to slow the speed of its internal temper-
ature change when directly exposed to cold or hot weather condi-
tions. This process depends on the latent heat absorption or release
that occurs when the PCM undergoes a phase change from solid to
liquid, liquid to gas or vice-versa. Consider low-temperature
thermoregulation as an example. A PCM provides a thermoregula-
tion effect on an asphalt mixture, which originates from the latent
heat exchanged during crystallization. PCMs solidify during the
long and cold winter and then release heat into the pavement sur-
roundings when the surface temperature decreases to the PCMs’
phase change temperature, which can ensure the asphalt pave-
ment temperature is higher than the low temperature distress
temperature for a prolonged time. Thus, a pavement structure’s
low-temperature adaptability can be improved by micro-PCM
addition.
To understand how micro-PCMs regulate the temperature of
asphalt pavement, a series of tests were conducted to choose the
most suitable phase change material. For this study, the latent heat
storage capacity test was used to explore the heat transfer charac-
teristic and heat capacity of micro-PCMs. The thermoregulation
effect test was conducted on three types of micro-PCMs to ascer-
tain the temperature change regulation of micro-PCM-mixed
asphalt pavement.
2. Materials
2.1. Micro-PCM preparation
The PCM in this study was n-tetradecane with a flash point of
122 °C and a density of 0.767 g/cm3. The substrate was silica with
granules in millimicron form. Ethyl cellulose (EC) functioned as the
membrane material and ethyl alcohol (CH3CH2OH) as an organic
solvent for EC to cover the PCM. Dioctyl sebacate was used as a
plasticizer. All aqueous solutions were prepared using distilled
water.
First, silica (as carrier material) and the PCM (n-tetradecane)
were mixed uniformly in a vacuum pump so that the n-
tetradecane was fully adsorbed by the silica. Then, a shape-
stabilized PCM was prepared. Second, ethyl cellulose was dissolved
into anhydrous ethanol to prepare the gelatinous solution. Third, a
mixture of shape-stabilized PCMs and dispersing agent was mixed
with the gelatinous solution. Finally, the mixture was placed into a
coating pan. The final dry powder was the micro-PCM, as shown in
Fig. 1(a). Fig. 1(b) shows that the PCMs were well encapsulated.
2.2. Micro-PCM DSC results
The initial phase change temperature of the main micro-PCM
used in this study was approximately 5 °C, which is hereafter
called the 5 °C micro-PCM. For instance, 5°C micro-PCM indicates
that the initial phase change temperature of the material is 5°C.
The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curves of the 5 °C
micro-PCM are shown in Fig. 2. During the exothermic process,
the initial phase change temperature and final phase change tem-
perature were 4.84 °C and –18.64 °C, respectively, and the com-
pensation power peak appeared at 1.04 °C. The exothermic
enthalpy was 94.20 J/g. During the endothermic process, the initial
phase change temperature and final phase change temperature
were 12.81 °C and 28.82 °C, respectively, and the compensation
power peak appeared at approximately 13.02 °C. The endothermic
enthalpy was 92.29 J/g.
3. Experimental methods
3.1. Latent heat storage capacity test
Many approaches have been used to characterize the thermo-
physical properties of PCMs, among which the T-history method
has been widely adopted in many studies due to its convenient
 B. Ma et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117186 3

Fig. 1. Micro-PCM powder and its SEM image.

Fig. 2. DSC test results of 5 °C micro-PCM.

operation and high precision [23]. Thus, the T-history method was Pure water
adopted in this research. 35
Pure water mixed with micro-PCMs

30
3.1.1. Test theory
Two glass bottles, A and B, were filled with the same mass of 25
water. Bottle A contained some PCMs, while bottle B did not.
20
1. Temperature sensors were installed in the two bottles, and then
they were placed into an environmentally controlled box until
15
they reached the same temperature.
2. A certain quantity of hot water was successively and quickly
poured into two identical insulation barrels, and temperature 10

sensors were immersed in the two water baths.

3. The glass bottles were removed from the environmentally con- 5
trolled box and put into the two insulation barrels.
18:09:00 18:15:00 18:21:00 18:27:00 18:33:00 18:39:00 18:45:00 18:51:00
4. The two insulation barrels were put into the environmentally
controlled box, and the box was set to a fixed temperature. Time

Each of the insulation barrels filled with water served as water
baths. There was a temperature difference between the glass bot-
tles and the insulation barrels at step three. The temperature
changes (Fig. 3) of the two insulation barrels in the environmen-
tally controlled box were recorded using temperature sensors.
Fig. 3. The temperature curves of pure water and pure water with micro-PCMs
during heating.
For the pure water mixed with micro-PCMs, the temperature
increased gradually, reaching its maximum at 31 °C. The pure
water reached its maximum during the same period. The initial
4 B. Ma et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117186
temperature conditions of the two insulation barrels were the
same. However, there is hysteresis between the curves for pure
water and pure water with micro-PCMs. The reason for this behavior
is that the micro-PCMs underwent a solid-to-liquid phase transi-
tion during the heating process.
According to the theory of latent heat, the total amount of heat
(QM) absorbed by the pure water with micro-PCMs during heating
is composed of the latent heat (QL), the sensible heat (QS) and the
lost heat (QC). However, the total amount of heat (QNM) absorbed
by the pure water in bottle B consists of only the sensible heat
(QNS) and the lost heat (QNC). The amount of heat can be calculated
as:
Q NM ¼ Q NS þ Q NC
QM ¼ QS þ QC þ QL
During the latent heat storage capacity test, the two insulation
barrels were put into the same environmentally controlled box.
Therefore, the total heat values, QNM and QM, are the same, and
the heat loss values, QNC and QC, are equal. By subtracting Eq. (1)
from Eq. (2), the heat stored by the micro-PCMs in the form of
latent heat is shown in Eq. (3).
Q L ¼ Q NS  Q S
The relationship between the heat and temperature is shown in
Eq. (4).
Q ¼ cmDT
In Eq. (4), Q is the quantity of heat, c is the specific heat capacity,
m is the material mass and DT represents the temperature differ-
ence during a certain time duration. The values of QNS and QS can
be calculated based on Eq. (4). To keep the following derivation
simple, it is assumed that the specific heat capacity of the pure
water and the pure water mixed with micro-PCMs was the same.
The value of QL can then be expressed by Eq. (5).
Q L ¼ Q NS  Q S ¼ cmðDT n  DT Þ
In Eq. (5), m is the mass of water, DTn represents the tempera-
ture difference of the pure water during a certain time range and
DT represents the temperature difference of the water in bottle A
during the same time range.
3.1.2. Thermoregulation ability
Because the phase-change peak temperature and phase-change
enthalpy of the micro-PCMs are different in the exothermic and
endothermic processes, both heating and cooling process tests
were conducted to provide the data required for the thermoregula-
Fig. 4. Glass bottle A and glass bottle B with temperature sensors.
ð1Þ
Fig. 5. The glass bottle placed into the insulation barrel.
ð2Þ
tion estimation of the micro-PCM during a typical T-history
method. Considering that the micro-PCM stores or releases more
heat around its phase change temperature, temperature ranges of
45–50 °C and 0–8 °C were chosen as the heat exchange tempera-
ture ranges for the heating and cooling processes, respectively.
(1) The heating process
ð3Þ
1. Two glass bottles, A and B, were filled with the same mass of
water (240 g), and m g of micro-PCMs were added to bottle A.
2. After inserting temperature sensors, both bottles were properly
ð4Þ
sealed (Fig. 4).
3. The two glass bottles were placed into a refrigerator set to a cer-
tain temperature for 40 min.
4. Two insulation barrels were placed in an environmentally con-
trolled box set to 50 °C for 10 min.
5. The insulation barrels were removed from the environmentally
controlled box. Then, 1550 g of hot water (50 °C) was poured
into each insulation barrel, which were equipped with temper-
ature sensors. Every combination of barrel and temperature
ð5Þ
sensor was tested.
6. Bottle A and bottle B were removed from the refrigerator and
put into the two barrels, which were then covered with cotton
and capped as quickly as possible (Figs. 5 and 6).
7. The two insulation barrels were placed into the environmen-
tally controlled box; data were extracted after 40 min (Fig. 7).
(2) The cooling process
The procedure for the cooling process test was similar to the
heating process test. However, the initial temperature conditions
were different.
1. Two insulation barrels containing 1550 g of pure water were
placed into a refrigerator for one hour.
2. Two glass bottles, A and B, were filled with the same mass of
water (240 g), and m g of micro-PCMs were added into bottle A.
3. Both glass bottles were placed into a 50 °C water bath and
allowed to heat until the water temperature inside reached
50 °C.
4. After the temperature sensors were put in place, both bottles
were properly sealed.
5. The insulation barrels were removed from the refrigerator, and
temperature sensors were installed in the two insulation
barrels.
6. Bottle A and bottle B were removed from the water bath and
each put into one of the two barrels. The two insulation barrels
were covered with cotton and capped as quickly as possible.
7. The two insulation barrels were placed into the environmen-
tally controlled box, and data were extracted after 40 min.
 B. Ma et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117186
Fig. 6. Sealed insulation barrels.
Fig. 7. Insulation barrels placed in the environmentally controlled box.
3.2. Thermoregulation effect test
3.2.1. Test equipment
The test equipment included an asphalt mixture mixer, a rut
meter, and a temperature measuring system (Fig. 8).
3.2.2. Test plan
To investigate the thermoregulation effect of micro-PCMs in an
asphalt mixture, the AC-13 asphalt mixture was used in this test.
The AC-13 asphalt content was 4.9% by weight of aggregate. The
thermoregulation effect has a strong relationship with the asphalt
mixture’s micro-PCM mass ratio. Therefore, in order to provide sat-
isfactory road performance, it is necessary to increase the micro-
PCM mass ratio as much as possible. Asphalt mixture specimens
were manufactured by the wheel rolling method with a height of
10 cm. There were seven specimens with different micro-PCM
mass ratios from three different thermoregulation types. Two rut
specimens were mixed with 5°C micro-PCMs with mass ratios
of 0.3% and 0.5%. Similarly, two rut specimens were mixed with
0 °C micro-PCMs with mass ratios of 0.3% and 0.5%. Two other
rut specimens were mixed with 5 °C micro-PCMs with mass ratios
of 0.3% and 0.5%. The other specimen that did not contain micro-
PCMs was used as the control group. In addition, temperature sen-
sors were installed in the center as well as the surface of each rut
Fig. 8. Temperature measuring system.
5
specimen (Fig. 9). The ambient temperature data was obtained by
placing a temperature sensor in the air. The placement of the seven
rut specimens are shown in Fig. 10.
4. Results and analysis
4.1. Micro-PCM latent heat storage capacity
A latent heat storage capacity test is very inexpensive and mea-
sures the temperature of a sample and a reference material, such as
water, easily over time. This single measurement can be used to
calculate the latent heat storage capacity of a micro-PCM. It is
based on recording temperature versus time curves of the micro-
PCMs, with water as a reference. The latent heat absorbed or
released by the micro-PCM can be calculated based on Eq. (5).
Therefore, in this research, heat storage capacity is described by
Ch in J°C/g. To be more specific, Ch represents the heat absorbed
or released by a micro-PCM per unit mass versus the temperature
of water. The measured value extracted from one test is shown in
Fig. 11, in which water temperature is plotted on the horizontal
axis and the latent heat of micro-PCMs is plotted on the vertical
axis. After fitting the curves as shown in Fig. 11, the value of Ch
can be obtained by calculating the coordinate curve integral.
Z T2  
QL
Ch ¼ dT ð6Þ
T1 m
In Eq. (6), QL is the quantity of latent heat, m is the micro-PCM’s
mass and T1 and T2 represent the initial and final water tempera-
tures, respectively, during the heating or cooling process. In addi-
tion, Chh represents the latent heat storage capacity during the
heating process, while Chc represents the latent heat storage capac-
ity during the cooling process. The test results are shown in
Table 1.
The value of Ch during the heating and cooling processes are dif-
ferent, as shown in Table 1. This is because the energy released or
absorbed by the micro-PCMs were different during the phase tran-
sition process. Figs. 12 and 13 show there is a linear relationship
between Ch and the mass of micro-PCMs used in the test. However,
Ch was an inherent property of the micro-PCM. Thus, the value of
Ch should approach a fixed value based on the large number of data
samples. The mean value of Ch can be viewed as the fixed value.
4.2. Thermoregulation effect analysis
4.2.1. Temperature recorded versus time
The temperature changes of seven specimens over time are
shown in Fig. 14. The details of the seven rut specimens were intro-
duced in Section 3.2.2, Test plan. As is shown in Fig. 14, the temper-
ature change behaviors of the seven rut specimens were similar.
Notably, there were some temperature differences between the
control and the other six rut specimens. Specifically, the tempera-
ture difference between the 5 °C micro-PCM and the control was
the largest. This result reflects that micro-PCMs of different types
have a certain thermoregulation effect on an asphalt mixture.
6 B. Ma et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117186

900

800

Chh /(J* /g)

700

600

Fig. 9. Rut sample embedded with temperature sensors. 500

400
20 22 24 26 28 30 32
Micro-PCM mass /g

Fig. 12. Heat storage capacity versus mass of the micro-PCM during the heating
process.

1000

900

800
Chc /(J* /g)

Fig. 10. Outdoor modeling test.

700
2
y = -43.56412x +3119.4624x-54275.24344
Fitting curve 600
1600

1400 500

1200
400
1000 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
Micro-PCM mass /g
Heat /J

800

600 Fig. 13. Heat storage capacity versus mass of the micro-PCM during the cooling
process.
400

200

-200
30 32 34 36 38 40 42
Temperature/°C

Fig. 11. Latent heat of micro-PCMs versus water temperature.

Table 1
Chh and Chc values with different micro-PCM mass.

Mass (g) Chh (J°C/g) Chc (J°C/g)

30 854 980
25 513 607
20 409 471
Means 592 686

4.2.2. Temperature difference analysis

Fig. 15 shows the temperature difference between the
experimental specimens and the control specimen. The experi-
mental specimens include six asphalt mixture specimens with dif-
ferent micro-PCM contents. The reason for the temperature
difference between the rut specimens is that micro-PCMs undergo
a phase change transition from solid to liquid or vice versa during Fig. 14. The rut samples’ internal temperatures over time.
 B. Ma et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117186 7

Fig. 17. 0.3% Micro-PCM mass ratio.

Fig. 15. Temperature difference between the experimental and control specimens
over time.

this process. When the ambient temperature decreases, PCMs

solidify and thus release heat into the pavement surroundings,
which influences the temperature change of the asphalt pavement.
It is obvious that the mass ratio and type of micro-PCM have signif-
icant influences on the temperature differences. The specimens
mixed with 5 °C micro-PCMs have the biggest temperature differ-
ence values. The specimen with the 0.5% mass ratio micro-PCM has
a bigger temperature difference compared with the specimen
mixed with 5 °C micro-PCM.

4.2.3. Analysis of different micro-PCM types

To study the affected factor, micro-PCM thermoregulation
types, the temperature differences of the three rut specimens with
the same micro-PCM mass ratio were recorded in Figs. 16 and 17.
The temperature difference trends of the three samples were basi-
cally identical. Fig. 16 shows that a distinct trough of 5 °C micro-
PCMs appears at 12:25:00, right behind the troughs of 0 °C and
5°C micro-PCMs. That means the thermoregulation range of dif- Fig. 18. Different mass ratios of 5°C micro-PCM.
ferent micro-PCMs were different. Meanwhile, the temperature
difference of the 5 °C micro-PCM reaches its maximum at approx-
imately 1.5 °C. At that point, the environment temperature was
approximately 7 °C and the temperature of the specimen not
mixed with micro-PCMs was 8.9 °C. According to the DSC result,
the initial and final phase change temperatures of the 5 °C micro-
PCMs were 4.84 °C and –18.64 °C, respectively. Therefore, 5 °C
micro-PCMs can respond to the temperature change effectively
when the environment temperature changes within the range of
0–10 °C.

Fig. 19. Different mass ratio of 0 °C micro-PCM.

4.2.4. Analysis of different micro-PCM mass ratios

Fig. 16. 0.5% Micro-PCM mass ratio.
To study the affecting factor, the mass ratio of micro-PCMs, the
temperature difference of the two specimens mixed with the same
type of micro-PCMs were recorded in Figs. 18–20. The ambient
temperature rises and then falls successively. The temperature dif-
ference change trends of the two samples were basically the same
8 B. Ma et al. / Construction and Building Materials 231 (2020) 117186
Fig. 20. Different mass ratio of 5 °C micro-PCM.
in each figure. For example, in Fig. 19, the 5 °C micro-PCM reaches
the maximum temperature difference at 14:15:00, and this
maximum exists for a short time. During this time period, the
micro-PCMs went through a phase transition. After this period,
the temperature difference decreased gradually and then stabilized
at 22:25:00. This temperature changing process is consistent with
the experimental results for the pure micro-PCMs. These results
support the feasibility of using micro-PCMs to regulate tempera-
ture change in asphalt mixtures.
Notably, the temperature difference has an obvious increasing
trend as the micro-PCMs’ mass ratio increases. This phenomenon
was especially distinct for the 5 °C micro-PCMs, as shown in
Fig. 20.
5. Summary and conclusions
In this research, the T-history method was adopted to study the
latent heat storage capacity of micro-PCMs. The latent heat storage
capacity was indicated by Ch. Because Ch is an inherent property of
a micro-PCM, its value should approach a fixed value based on the
large number of data samples. The mean value of Ch can be seen as
the fixed value. The thermoregulation effects of different types of
micro-PCMs and their proper proportion in an asphalt mixture
were investigated. The results showed that micro-PCMs of differ-
ent types have certain thermoregulation effects, and the ther-
moregulation range of different micro-PCMs were different.
Specifically, the thermoregulation effect of 5 °C micro-PCM was
the most prominent in this research. In addition, an increase in
the micro-PCMs mass ratio can enhance the thermoregulation
effect for a given type of micro-PCM. Considering that the ambient
temperature range of this study was 0–10 °C, the 5 °C micro-PCMs
has the most prominent effect in slowing the asphalt mixture
internal temperature change. Thus, 5 °C micro-PCMs may be suit-
able for use in asphalt pavement and for further research to inves-
tigate the actual reduction in ice formation and snow accumulation
on the asphalt pavement surface.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The writers wish to acknowledge the financial support of this
research by the ‘‘Twelfth five-year’’ National Science and Technol-
ogy Support Plan (No. 2014BAG05B04), the Construction Science
and Technology Project of Ministry of Transport of China (No.
2013 318 490 010), the Central University program (No.
310821151010), the Transportation Industry High-Level Technical
Personnel Training project (No. 2018019) and the Special Project
Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Government (No.
19JK0801)
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