This project explored a new approach in detecting vehicles on a roadway by making a roadway section itself a traffic flow detector. Sections of a given roadway are paved with carbon-nanotube (CNT)/cement composites; the piezoresitive property of carbon nanotubes enables the composite to detect the traffic flow. Meanwhile, CNTs can also work as the reinforcement elements to improve the strength and toughness of the concrete pavement. In contrast to current traffic flow detection technologies that require separate devices to be installed either in the pavement or over the road, the proposed sensing approach enables the pavement itself to detect traffic flow parameters. Therefore, the proposed sensor is expected to have a long service life with little maintenance and wide-area detection capability. (Author/publisher)
Abstract