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    <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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    <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>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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      <link>https://rip.trb.org/</link>
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    <item>
      <title>Development of Multifunctional Cementitious Composites with Tailored Pore Structures for Intelligent Infrastructure Applications</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2696035</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In this study, porous cement-based electrolytes with three-dimensional interconnected microporous structures will be prepared using a controllable foaming strategy. The foaming process will be tailored to adjust pore size, connectivity, and overall porosity, enabling systematic investigation of how microstructural parameters influence ionic transport and overall functional performance. Multiple formulations, incorporating different foaming agents and mix proportions, will be developed to identify mixtures that maintain adequate mechanical integrity while providing enhanced ion mobility and stable electrochemical behavior.
The resulting cementitious electrolytes will be comprehensively characterized using electrochemical techniques, including cyclic voltammetry to assess charge–discharge behavior and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to quantify ionic conductivity and interfacial resistance. These measures will be performed under varied curing conditions and testing environments to evaluate reproducibility and long-term stability. The data will correlate with microstructural observations (e.g., pore connectivity and distribution) and compressive strength results to establish quantitative relationships between pore architecture, mechanical performance, and electrochemical response. Through this approach, the project will define design guidelines for cement-based electrolytes that provide reliable functional properties suitable for integration into advanced, multifunctional civil infrastructure systems.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2026 12:31:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2696035</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Multiscale Understanding of Pervious Concrete Using Digital Packing and Automated Permeability Testing</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2696018</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project develops a digital framework to better understand and predict the performance of pervious concrete. The work integrates (i) establishing a database of true three-dimensional (3-D) shapes and surface texture of coarse aggregates in pervious concrete, (ii) development of an automated permeability testing system for conducting reliable and robust measurements of hydraulic conductivity, (iii) reconstruction of a customizable 3-D digital model of pervious concrete by packing the digitalized coarse aggregates from database, which is validated by the key pore characteristics and reference testing results from automated hydraulic conductivity measurement.
To achieve the above-mentioned integration, the research will proceed through a series of coordinated actions. First, the research team will establish a database of digitalized coarse aggregates for modelling pervious concrete by employing an industrial-grade blue-laser 3-D scanner to obtain the true 3-D shape and surface texture of over 1000 coarse aggregates. The quantity of 1000 digitalized coarse aggregates is an adequate number for enabling digital packing. Next, an automated and robust permeability testing system will be developed to perform hydraulic conductivity measurement on pervious concrete specimens with controlled porosity, which provides reliable high-quality experimental results for model validation. Finally, the team will build a customizable 3-D model of pervious concrete cylinder by packing digital coarse aggregates from the database, which can predict the pore structure and transport behavior of stormwater in pervious concrete. The research  team has rich experience in digitalization of materials and developing experimental data-based 3-D models for modelling engineering properties and will complete developing the automated hydraulic conductivity testing system in six months. This testing system will include multiple high-frequency sensors simultaneously collecting pressure change data and flow rate change date, which can balance the accuracy, robustness, efficiency, and cost of hydraulic conductivity test. This framework ties together physical testing and advanced modeling to deliver practical, field-ready guidance with the objective of improving the efficiency and accuracy of pervious concrete design and reducing the construction cost of pervious concrete.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:09:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2696018</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Revolutionizing Coastal Infrastructure Durability with Pervious Concrete: A Cost-Effective, High-Performance Seawall</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2696019</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project develops and validates a pervious concrete seawall system to reduce wave loads and mitigate scour-related degradation at lower cost and maintenance demand. The work integrates (i) high-fidelity finite element analysis for preliminary design, (ii) fabrication of pervious concrete with tuned porosity (15–35%) using durability-enhancing binders and engineered biochar, (iii) controlled wave flume experiments with instrumented specimens and backfill monitoring, and (iv) seawall design optimization accelerated by surrogate model and genetic algorithm.
To achieve the above mentioned integration, the research will proceed through a series of coordinated actions. First, the research team will build a high-fidelity finite element model, analyze the wave load in seawall, and achieve a preliminary design. Next, pervious concrete specimens with controlled porosity will be fabricated using the preliminary design and tested in a wave flume, which simulates real coastal conditions by generating programmable waves and measuring forces, displacements, and backfill scour behind the seawall. Finally, the team will apply a HyperNetwork, a neural architecture that dynamically generates predictive models, to estimate performance metrics such as energy dissipation and structural stability across different design configurations. The research team has rich experience in developing surrogate models for engineering applications and will complete building this HyperNetwork-based surrogate model in six months. This HyperNetwork will be used together with a genetic algorithm to search for Pareto-optimal designs that balance durability, hydraulic efficiency, and cost. This integrated approach ties together physical testing and advanced modeling to deliver practical, field-ready guidance with the objective of reducing wave-driven degradation and improving structural resilience in simple, cost-effective terms.
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2026 16:44:25 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2696019</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Performance Evaluation of Porous Asphalt Mixture Containing Recycled Concrete Aggregate</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1868771</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Concrete is one of the most widely used building materials, which creates a large amount of debris during demolition and/or reconstruction of infrastructure facilities (1). The recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency statistics show that concrete accounted for 67.5 percent of the 600 million tons of construction and demolition debris in the U.S. in 2018, and 74.3 percent of the concrete debris was reused as aggregate (2). The recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) from construction and demolition waste helps to reduce the environmental impact and improve the sustainability of infrastructures by diminishing the waste sent to landfill areas, reducing the need for aggregate mining from natural resources, and eliminating the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission that would be released during portland cement production (3). 
 
Pavement is one major consumer of aggregates because of the vast area of pavement networks and the high proportions of aggregates in all pavement structural courses. Promoting the use of RCA in pavements is one major approach to achieve sustainability and environmental protection goals. Currently, most RCA use in pavement projects is limited to the base and subbase courses due to the lower quality of RCA in comparison to virgin aggregates and the less strict specifications for aggregates in the base and subbase courses. The use of RCA in the upper course, primarily dense-graded hot mix asphalt, is still limited due to the concern that RCA may significantly impact the performance of hot mix asphalt in terms of moisture susceptibility, tensile strength, and volumetric properties (4, 5). Meanwhile, porous asphalt mixture, which features a high air-void content and high permeability, has gained significant attention in recent years in the pavement industry due to its contributions to storm water runoff volume control and quality improvement, traffic noise reduction, driving safety enhancement, and other environmental and safety-related benefits (6, 7). The high porosity of porous asphalt mixture limits its applications to scenarios where either it is not treated as a structural course or the traffic volume, load, or speed is low (e.g., shoulder, parking lot, low-volume roads). These scenarios have less strict requirements on asphalt mixtures, so can be appropriate for the use of RCA in asphalt mixtures. Currently, only a very limited number of studies have explored the utilization of RCA in porous asphalt mixtures (8). There is a need to further investigate the feasibility and method of incorporating RCA in porous asphalt mixture.

The main objective of this proposed project is to investigate appropriate methods to incorporate RCA in porous asphalt mixture, evaluate the performance of porous asphalt mixture with RCA and other necessary additive, and provide recommendations on test procedures and mixture design. Specifically, the following tasks are planned:
(a)	Perform a comprehensive literature review of RCA characteristics, porous asphalt mixture design and performance, and the use of RCA in asphalt mixtures;
(b)	Develop and execute a laboratory experimental plan to design and evaluate porous asphalt mixtures containing RCA and other necessary additives; and
(c)	Investigate the mechanism of RCA impact on porous asphalt mixture performance and recommend test and design procedures/guidelines for porous asphalt mixtures containing RCA.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 Jul 2021 10:12:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1868771</guid>
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