Development of a New Temperature Control System for APT Experiments and First Results on an Inductive eRoad Pavement

This chapter presents a new temperature control system recently developed at Université Gustave Eiffel dedicated for accelerated pavement testing (APT) experiments under the effect of medium and high temperatures. The temperature effect can be investigated in combination with or without the effect of traffic loading using a heavy traffic simulator. This system was first used to test a pavement for inductive charging of electric vehicles (through electric roads (eRoads) that supply them electric power) in full scale, as part of the European project INCIT-EV. Using controlled temperatures showed that temperatures measured at different depths in the pavement were gradually lower than the regulated ones in the air, which is similar to field conditions at the same temperature level, which is not always possible at any time of the year or sustainable without a temperature control system. Monitoring pavement performance at high temperatures and traffic loading showed that the rutting measured on the pavement surface was much higher than at ambient temperature. This combined temperature and traffic control experiment paves the way for many new perspectives for research studies, especially on the impact of rising temperatures due to climate change on pavement infrastructures.