| Citation: | Yuanfen Ye, Huiming Tang, Zhi Chen, Junrong Zhang, Chunchen Cao. Experimental Investigation of Geothermal Ice-Melting Efficiency on Pavement at Highway Tunnel Entrances in Cold Regions. Journal of Earth Science, 2026, 37(4): 1829-1840. doi: 10.1007/s12583-025-0247-9
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Rapid and efficient de-icing methods are essential to ensure vehicle safety at highway tunnel entrances in cold regions. While geothermal ice-melting technology offers environmental and sustainability advantages, its application in tunnel entrance scenarios remains limited. To address this gap, a four-factor, three-level orthogonal ice-melting experiment was designed to systematically evaluate the ice-melting efficiency of a geothermal hydronic heating system under simulated cold-region tunnel conditions. Key variables, including ambient temperature (-7.5– -12.5 ℃), fluid temperature (40–60 ℃), wind speed (4.5–6.5 m/s), and preheating duration (0–4 h), were tested in a controlled large-scale laboratory. Ice-melting efficiency was quantified by the time required to achieve a melting ratio of 0.7 for a 10 mm thick ice layer. Results identified ambient temperature (
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