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    <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>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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      <title>Development of In-situ Fracture Toughness Evaluation for Bridge Safety</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2341566</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This research will develop and evaluate non-destructive test methods that have the
potential for providing information about material resistance to fracture. This may include
in-situ measurements of surface hardness, acoustic-emission measurements, and/or
advanced ultrasonic evaluation. Test results obtained from these advanced technologies
will be correlated with fracture toughness and absorbed impact energy for a variety of
metallic materials used in highway infrastructure.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:38:45 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2341566</guid>
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      <title>Develop Countermeasure Strategies for Protecting Bridge Girders Against Overheight Vehicles Impact</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1867130</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently developed an energy-dissipative system prototype using a combination of a steel box beam with aluminum honeycombs for the protection of bridge girders from over-height impacts. This innovative protection device will be effective in preventing damages to concrete and steel beams, while sustaining moderate to severe damage to itself, depending on the intensity of the impact. This project focuses on the full scale testing, field installation and evaluation of the effectiveness of this prototype against over-height truck impacts.
The innovative steel beam/honeycomb protective system is anticipated to dissipate a large portion of the energy from the colliding truck by crushing/deforming the honeycombs. The effectiveness of this device has been investigated recently by large-scale testing in collaboration with the researchers at Hunan University, where over-height impact was simulated through a drop hammer system. With the success of the large-scale testing program, the actual field installation of full scale model is deemed necessary to validate its effectiveness to protect existing bridge structures. In particular, this project aims at the following: (1) Design of the full-scale testing program and selection of bridge site for the field installation; (2) Custom construction and installation of the full-scale model of the prototype attaching to the existing facial girder of the selected structure; and (3) Full scale testing and evaluation of the system with actual over-height truck impact on site.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Jul 2021 21:15:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1867130</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Bio-Inspired Reusable Crash Cushions with Superior Energy-Absorbing Capacity</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1740336</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Crash cushions are used as a roadside safety treatment alternative to protect errant vehicles from striking potentially hazardous fixed roadside objects by absorbing the kinetic energy of the vehicles. The goal of this project is to design lightweight reusable crash cushions with superior energy-absorbing capacity. A bio-inspired approach is used in this study. Three biological role models, i.e., coconut endocarp, sea urchin spines, and bovid horns, are picked out from nature due to their low density, high strength, and remarkable impact-resistant and energy-absorbing capacities. Then, a comprehensive structural and mechanical analysis is conducted on the natural structures to understand the mechanisms underlying their superior mechanical properties. Finally, the identified structural characteristics are transferred from the biological structures to the structure of the crash cushions. Four tasks are carried out in this study: (1) A series of structural and mechanical tests are performed on natural structures to elucidate the mechanisms underlying their superior mechanical properties. (2) Numerical simulation is performed to identify the main design parameters, and a multi-objective optimization is conducted to optimize its energy absorption characteristics and comprehensive crashworthiness. (3) The optimized design is fabricated by 3D printing. (4) An experimental campaign is conducted to test the 3D printed crash cushions.
The developed energy-absorbing structures are useful for other applications where materials are prone to impact damages, such as other types of traffic barriers, exterior bridge girders, bridge piers, earthquake-resistant structures, and packaging materials for hazardous goods transportation.
This project will be investigated by two research groups with complementary expertise. The PI Prof. Congrui Jin has done extensive research in 3D printed bio-inspired designs. Her team will perform Task 1, 3 and 4. The co-PI Prof. Joshua Steelman has extensive experience in numerical and experimental study of structural responses to severe impacts. His team will contribute to Task 2.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 21 Sep 2020 16:10:51 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1740336</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Workstation Tables</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1366789</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Tables can improve occupant compartmentalization, which is a passive occupant protection strategy. Tables designed to absorb energy can minimize the forces and accelerations imparted to occupants during secondary impacts. The objective of this subtask is to evaluate the crashworthiness of existing and alternative table designs. Research may include computer analyses, sled testing, and full-scale testing. The research results are used to guide the development of an American Public Transportation Association (APTA) crashworthiness standard for workstation tables.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:12:48 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1366789</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Characterization and Modeling of Photon Absorption in Asphalt Materials for Improved Accuracy and Consistency of Nuclear Density Measurement</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1356625</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Although the nuclear method has been widely used in the compaction measurement of both soils and asphalt pavements, its accuracy for asphalt pavements is not as good as that for soils. Due to this issue, many disputes have incurred in construction projects, which resulted in replacement of the nuclear test method with the core sample method in many state departments of transportation (DOTs) for quality assurance or acceptance including the Region II states, although most contractors still use it on quality control as a fast and economic test method. The previous investigation disclosed that the above disputes can mainly attribute to the effect of asphalt's chemical constitution on the nuclear gauge count readings. There are three basic types of photon interaction with matter, i.e., the Compton, photoelectric, and pair production effects. The first two effects are dominant in the existing nuclear test methods. Attenuation from the Compton effect is proportional to physical density; however attenuation from the photoelectric effect depends on atomic number or composition. Therefore, to accurately measure material density, the relative composition effect needs to be corrected. In other words, the Compton and photoelectric effects need to be decoupled. The goal of this project is to improve the accuracy and consistency of the nuclear test methods in asphalt pavement construction. To this end, we will first investigate the energy absorption difference between asphalt and aggregate materials. Experiments will be conducted to test the energy absorption rates of asphalt binders, mixtures, and soil materials using different nuclear sources. The nuclear gauge count reading changing with asphalt material density and microstructure will be characterized and modeled. The correlation between actual block densities and nuclear gauge count readings will be analyzed and understood, and photon absorption will be simulated through particle transmission analysis, and an appropriate calibration equation will be developed.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2015 01:00:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1356625</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Functionally Graded Biomimetic Energy Absorption Concept Development for Transportation Systems</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1301295</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This study shows how many lessons can be learned from a study of biological systems that are applicable to engineering applications. The proposed research applies the observations from the study of tendon-to-bone insertion site conducted by PI with his colleagues at the School of Medicine at Washington University to a development of a robust and resilient functionally graded cylindrical sandwich shock absorber. The concept utilizes concentric foam shells of variable mass density constrained within a stiffer outer shell that reduces radial deformations of the assembly under axial shock. As was demonstrated for both biological tissues (e.g., the tendon-to-bone insertion site) and for engineering materials (metals, ceramics, composites), a lower stiffness material possesses a higher resilience and toughness. In the considered concept, the project maximizes the energy dissipation of the assembly by grading the foam shells utilizing variable mass density (and accordingly, variable stiffness and strength) of foam. The energy absorption is maximized, while maintaining the prescribed deformation as well as the necessary strength of the system.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 07 Mar 2014 01:01:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1301295</guid>
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