ABSTRACT
Microwave heating has been applied for asphalt pavement recycling and maintenance. To investigate the microwave heating properties of asphalt mixture, laboratory test and numerical simulation were done and compared. Dense asphalt mixture samples with and without graphite powder were heated using microwave oven for different time. Numerical simulation of microwave heating of asphalt mixture was developed with FEM software COMSOL Multiphysics. Both laboratory measured and simulated surface temperatures were recorded and analyzed. Results show that graphite powders can significantly increase the microwave heating efficiency of asphalt mixture. Numerical simulation results have a good correlation with laboratory test results. It is feasible to use COMSOL Multiphysics to simulate the microwave heating process of asphalt mixture.
