Influence of Phase Change Materials on Ice and Snow Melting Effects of Asphalt Mixture

To address the problem of ice and snow accumulation on asphalt pavements in an environmentally friendly and effective manner, and to enhance driving safety in winter, the DaoLu Tiaowen Cailiao (DTC) phase change materials were directly mixed into warm-mix asphalt. The DTC’s heat storage and release characteristics were utilized to elevate the pavement temperature, thereby facilitating ice and snow melting. In this study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were used to observe the microstructure of phase change warm-mix asphalt mixture (PCWM); the snow melting performance of PCWM under various snowfall intensities and snow compaction degrees was evaluated through snow melting test, while the ice and snow removal efficiency at different low temperatures was evaluated through the ice–pavement adhesion test; and the degradation of skid resistance performance of PCWM under low temperature and humid conditions was assessed through skid resistance test. Results show that DTC phase change materials exhibit the best self-melting snow effect under light snow conditions (snow thickness 2 cm). However, the snow melting capacity of PCWM decreases as snowfall intensity and snow density increase. PCWM effectively reduces the adhesion strength between asphalt pavement and ice and snow, thus improving ice and snow removal efficiency. Additionally, DTC phase change materials effectively prevent black ice formation on asphalt pavement by increasing the mixture’s porosity and micromorphology roughness, combined with phase-change heat release, thereby effectively improving skid resistance performance after light snow self-melting.