Laboratory investigation of the Self-healing and deicing Performance of the WMA Mixtures containing Zinc Slag Filler

Nowadays, regarding the scarcity and non-renewability of natural resources and environmental issues, the use of waste materials in asphalt mixtures has been very popular. Besides, zinc slag has the potential to absorb microwave radiation because of its conductive nature. The main objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using zinc slag as a filler in warm mix asphalt (WMA) mixtures to examine the potential of deicing and self-healing. To evaluate de-icing potential, some tests on deicing potential of asphalt mixtures using microwave heating, including Ice-melting capability test, ice falling time, self-healing during deicing, and stability of WMA samples incorporating different contents of zinc slag filler (0, 35%, 70%, and 100% of total filler weight) were carried out. The results show that if 100% zinc slag filler is used in WMA asphalt mixture, the ratio of self-healing during deicing is the best; additionally, the results indicate that the ice melting speed of the WMA mixture containing 100% BOF filler was 68% higher than that of the control mixture.