<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="https://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <channel>
    <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
    <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
    <atom:link href="https://rip.trb.org/Record/RSS?s=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" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
    <description></description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
    <image>
      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
      <url>https://rip.trb.org/Images/PageHeader-wTitle-RIP.jpg</url>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
    </image>
    <item>
      <title>Hydraulic Conductivity of Base Course Material, Pavement Drainage, and Relation to Pavement Buckling</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2671989</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This research project aims to study the effects of excessive moisture in base courses, focusing on the potential contributions of base course drain ability and water retention to pavement buckling and investigate adjustments to base course gradations and drainage details and strategies to improve drain ability, control sensitivity to moisture changes, and reduce buckling potential while maintaining adequate pavement support. The proposed project will include sampling and testing of base courses around the state to characterize the index properties, hydraulic conductivity, water retention curves, drainage properties, and resilient modulus. Base course samples from pavement buckling occurrences will also be collected to assess if commonalities exist in the base courses where pavement buckling occurs. Current pavement drainage strategies employed in Wisconsin will also be reviewed. Base course gradations, water retention properties, and pavement drainage strategies of surrounding states will also be reviewed. The culmination of reviewing current 
Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) base course gradations and drainage details and those of surrounding states will be the development of updated base course gradations and drainage strategies to improve moisture management while maintaining adequate pavement support.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:35:36 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2671989</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>New Methods for Improving Load Rating of Existing Steel Bridges for Torsional Buckling</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2593955</link>
      <description><![CDATA[There are hundreds of steel bridges in Oregon that are in good condition and have performed well over extended lives. However, newly implemented rating checks for lateral-torsional buckling are now resulting in low rating factors that could require load posting for hundreds of bridges. Most of these steel bridges are simply supported steel stringers with either timber or corrugated metal decks and the bridges are located throughout the state. These bridges rated adequately using prior load rating methods, but recent updating of the load ratings using LRFR now produces very low rating factors for positive moment at mid-span. The main difference between the old and new methods is that lateral torsional buckling (LTB) controls the moment capacity and this was not checked in the old rating. There are cases where the rating factor is zero meaning the bridge cannot carry any truck load. Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) load rating engineers have tried to develop analytical tools based on limited prior research but many bridges still have low ratings and require load posting.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2025 13:51:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2593955</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Advanced Model for Predicting Buckling in Rails</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2573186</link>
      <description><![CDATA[It is well-known that track buckling is one of the most commonplace causes of train
derailments. Accordingly, with partial funding provided by the research team's previous US Department of Transportation (DOT) University Transportation Center (UTC) and the Technology Transportation Center, Inc. (TTCI, now MxV Rail), the team is continuing to develop a track buckling model for deployment by MxV Rail as a tool for predicting track buckling, A significant advancement over currently deployed track buckling models, the team's technology includes an open-source nonlinear finite element algorithm that is user-friendly. Briefly, the team's track buckling model accounts for the effects of the following on track buckling: both longitudinal and lateral track walk; rail neutral temperature (RNT); both lateral and longitudinal cross tie aggregate interfacial friction; track modulus; nonlinear track liftoff; and broken spikes. In addition, it is sufficiently robust to be capable for additional environmental causes to be described herein and in a companion proposal. Given these advanced capabilities, track engineers will be able to dramatically improve track safety.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2025 13:01:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2573186</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Using Automated Low-Cost Track Monitoring Technologies for Rail Thermal Buckling Prevention</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2445325</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Safety is the principal concern of the railway industry, and track alignment irregularities pose risks to the safe operation of trains. According to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) accident database, "Track alignment irregular (buckled/sun kink)" is the most severe accident cause. include improving rail safety by developing accurate rail neutral temperature (RNT) measurement technology. The proposed research will contribute to further improvement and verification of the machine learning (ML)-RNT predictive tool, which can support nondestructive and non-disrupting RNT measurement without the need for baseline measurement. The proposed long-term data collection system and machine learning models will contribute to stress-sensitive information extraction and a better understanding of wave propagation in rails.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 27 Oct 2024 13:24:40 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2445325</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Continuously Welded Rail Longitudinal Resistance Modeling</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2404236</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Continuously welded rail (CWR) is standard in North American freight railroads despite the common concerns for rail buckling and rail breaks. Rail longitudinal resistance is an important parameter for proper re-establishment of rail neutral temperature (RNT) after rail breaks and reducing longitudinal rail movement under external vertical and longitudinal loads. Existing rail longitudinal resistance values are based on limited rail cut field testing and are not applicable when it comes to special track conditions, such as near fixed assets, and have not been used to evaluate rail movement without a break. In collaboration with MxV Rail engineers who are consulting on this work, the proposed research aims to develop efficient 2D and 3D finite element (FE) rail longitudinal resistance models based on experimental studies and historical data, which can be implemented considering the effect of frozen ballast, frozen structures, vehicle forces, and maintenance disturbance. The FE models will be carried out in ABAQUS, and will consider various rail sizes, multiple material and geometric tie properties, and three critical forms of interactions: rail-to-tie friction, anchor slipping force, and tie-to-ballast restraint. These force-displacement interactions are nonlinear and are represented using springs, with stiffnesses determined based on experimental studies (for anchor slipping force) and historical data (for rail-sleeper friction and sleeper-ballast restraint). The development of FE rail longitudinal resistance models that consider efficient representation of rail-to-tie and tie-to-ballast interactions can have multiple practical applications, including: (1) provide improved RNT re-establishment guidance under special track conditions and (2) evaluate changes in RNT from vehicle and maintenance-induced longitudinal rail movement.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 21 Jul 2024 11:12:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2404236</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Feasibility of Promoting Local Rail Vibrations Using Electromechanical Impedance Method</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1890169</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The mission of this project is to serve the rail industry by improving infrastructure safety and reliability with minimized risks of internal rail defects and rail thermal buckling. The team will develop an electromechanical impedance (EMI) measurement system to promote local rail vibrations, which were recently found to be promising tools for both rail structural integrity inspection and RNT estimation.

The local rail vibrations are the vibrational modes that are easy to promote, highly localized, and immune from boundary conditions. The fundamental mechanism of this phenomenon is deeply rooted from guided wave propagation in rails. Previously, local rail vibrations were promoted by impulse excitation, such as impactor and pulse laser, which lack a control flexibility on input energy and frequency. The team proposes to investigate the usage of EMI method for a consistent local rail vibration promotion, and successfully conducted preliminary numerical simulation to prove its feasibility. The proposed mission will be accomplished by developing an innovative capability of consistent excitation and detection of local rail vibrations, and advancing the state-of-the-art of rail defect detection rail neutral temperature (RNT) measurement.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2021 14:50:12 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1890169</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Achieving Resilient Multi-Span Bridges by using Buckling-Restrained Braces</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1599222</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Analytical and experimental research was conducted to expand and validate the Bidirectional Ductile End Diaphragm (BDED) concept, developed in an earlier IDEA project (NCHRP-172), for application in common multi-span bridges. Buckling Restrained Braces (BRBs) were used as fuse elements located at the end of a superstructure's floating span for this purpose. This innovative system can provide seismically resilient bridges with damage-free piers at low cost while minimizing displacement demands to levels that can be easily accommodated by conventional expansion joints. The nonlinear behavior of bridges designed using various methods was assessed by subjecting them to suites of earthquake motions using non-linear time-history analyses. One proposed design procedure based on Equivalent Lateral Forces (ELF) was shown to be particularly expedient and effective. It was also determined that, according to fatigue index calculations, it is not necessary to replace BRBs after an earthquake. The proposed design procedures were shown to be adequate for different seismic hazards, BRB geometries, and many irregular bridges.  They were used to design BRBs in BDED in a 5-span prototype bridge, then used to design a test specimen that considered various BRB configurations, BRB end-connections to gusset plates, BRB connections to concrete (with details applicable to new structures and/or retrofitted ones), and BRB to steel girder connections. The bridge specimen was supported on two shake tables able to apply both unsynchronized and synchronized excitation representing the demands at the ends of the span. The bridge specimen was tested with different BRB configurations and was subjected to displacement sequences representing thermal expansion demands, design level seismic demands, and strong motions to represent different types of motions (near field, far field, pulse-type motions, and motions in soft soils). Each BRB configuration was tested until failure. Results from this study showed that BDED can provide seismic resilient bridges and that thermal expansion is not controlling the design of this system. It also demonstrated that pier damage could be prevented and that span displacement demands were small (i.e., of a magnitude that can be accommodated by conventional expansion joints). This research made the BDED concept ready for adoption by bridge design specifications.

 
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 09 Apr 2019 10:38:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1599222</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Seismic Repair of Reinforced Concrete Bridges Substructure</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1425934</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Modern seismic design practices for bridge structures involve the use of capacity design principles that locate plastic hinges in columns, while protecting against other modes of failure or locations of damage. For large earthquakes, the formation of plastic hinges in columns can lead to buckling and rupture of longitudinal steel. Traditionally, once buckling occurs, bridge columns are demolished and rebuilt because the cost to replace portions of columns can be prohibitive. Replacement is deemed necessary since the inelastic strain capacity of reinforcing bars is severely diminished once buckling occurs, rendering the structure vulnerable to collapse in future earthquakes. Bridge column repair has been studied for some time with several established techniques for repair for shear and confinement critical columns. To the knowledge of the principal investigators (PIs), there is little data available on repair of columns that are otherwise designed to modern standards. Similarly, there is little data available on developing an understanding of when repair is truly needed, and when repair is truly no longer feasible. A recent pilot study conducted at North Carolina State University (NCSU) demonstrated the feasibility of a repair technique which employed the relocation of the plastic hinge to a previously undamaged location within the column. This was successfully employed for columns that sustained buckled reinforcing bars, and showed promise for columns with fractured bars. In this proposal, the pilot study is expanded by developing a suite of repair techniques aimed at achieving plastic hinge relocation in damaged columns. Techniques may include the use of fiber reinforced polymers, high strength steel, reinforced concrete and structural steel. The focus will be on the concept of â€˜hinge relocation for repairâ€™ and will consider variables such as the need for rapid deployment following an event, environmental conditions at the time of repair, and expertise of potential repair workers in Alaska. The research will utilize columns that will be built and damaged as part of another Alaska Department of Transportation (AKDOT) research project, thus maximizing resources. Recommendations will consist of analysis and design guidelines, as a function of damage level (i.e. strain limits), for repair design of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge column to footing connections. The recommendations will also be applicable to some RC column to cap connections, although specific tests on that configuration are not part of this phase of work.. In addition, analytical studies will be conducted on other bridge column connection types (e.g., reinforced concrete filled steel pipes to pile cap beams) such that the direction for future experimental work on those connections may proceed. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 07 Oct 2016 14:54:04 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1425934</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Rail Neutral Temperature Monitoring for Rail Transit</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1352303</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The project will further develop and test unique Intelligent Rail Integrity System (IRIS) to determine the conditions leading to changes in Rail Neutral Monitoring Temperature (RNT), and provide the means to continuously monitor RNT in critical curve and abutment locations, to measure this effect, and communicate the condition to an IRIS website for remote access. This program will result in safer rail transit operations by more definitive continuous reporting of rail conditions and allow for verification of field welds, distressing curves, and any rail cuts. Continuous welded rail at curves and at abutments experience changes in rail neutral temperature (RNT) over time as stiff supports inhibit redistribution and equalization of longitudinal rail force. Significant changes in neutral temperature contribute to rail buckling and derailments. The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) will be participating with staff, equipment and facility for testing on their transit facilities. The project will be performed in the following two contingent stages. Stage I- Program Initiation and Stage II- System Implementation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2015 01:00:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1352303</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>