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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <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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    <item>
      <title>Integrated Acoustic and Human-Centered Development and Digital Twin Testing for Rail Noise Abatement Strategies in Ohio
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2712240</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Rail and highway projects tend to run in tandem. Typically, residential areas along rail lines are located at grade separations. As a result, residents can be adversely impacted by rail noise and track vibration. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) consistently receives complaints from residents related to rail noise. Currently, ODOT does not have any defined noise abatement strategies for rail projects. Research is needed to determine if there are feasible, reasonable, cost-effective ways to dampen rail noise for residential and other noise sensitive areas along rail lines.

Research Goal: Identify innovative techniques and/or designs that can aid in the mitigation of rail noise. For this study, rail noise is referring to sounds coming from the tracks and subsequent vibrations, not the train horn. Of particular interest is railroad crossing elimination projects, which are subject to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)  assignment and typically include an at grade crossing and the potential for road relocation above existing rail lines. Additional items that should be taken into consideration include ownership, requirements, and costs for installation and ongoing maintenance of all proposed solutions.

Potential Benefits: Effective noise abatement strategies for rail noise could extend benefits currently experienced from highway noise abatement strategies to residential and commercial areas located along rail lines. This includes but is not limited to increased quality of life.        ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:55:57 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2712240</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Railway Noise Abatement Strategies: State of the Art and Applicability for Ohio Corridors</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2712239</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Rail and highway projects tend to run in tandem. Typically, residential areas along rail lines are located at grade separations. As a result, residents can be adversely impacted by rail noise and track vibration. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) consistently receives complaints from residents related to rail noise. Currently, ODOT does not have any defined noise abatement strategies for rail projects. Research is needed to determine if there are feasible, reasonable, cost-effective ways to dampen rail noise for residential and other noise sensitive areas along rail lines.

Research Goal: Identify innovative techniques and/or designs that can aid in the mitigation of rail noise. For this study, rail noise is referring to sounds coming from the tracks and subsequent vibrations, not the train horn. Of particular interest is railroad crossing elimination projects, which are subject to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) assignment and typically include an at grade crossing and the potential for road relocation above existing rail lines. Additional items that should be taken into consideration include ownership, requirements, and costs for installation and ongoing maintenance of all proposed solutions.

Potential Benefits: Effective noise abatement strategies for rail noise could extend benefits currently experienced from highway noise abatement strategies to residential and commercial areas located along rail lines. This includes but is not limited to increased quality of life. 

The goal of this research is to systematically research and evaluate emerging noise abatement strategies for potential implementation in Ohio's railroad projects. The research team will directly address the effectiveness (cost per dB reduced), cost (including construction and maintenance costs, such as cost per mile), reliability, and implementation hurdles for each strategy, as well as ownership considerations. They will also consider combining measures (e.g., dampers, a short barrier, and a track pad) to achieve additive benefits beyond those reported in existing studies. The proposed project advances the state of practice for railroad noise abatement strategies from scattered information worldwide to a more defined, deployable set. It provides an in-depth evaluation of innovative rail noise abatement solutions, moving beyond the conventional highway noise wall paradigm to more adaptable, rail-specific approaches.            ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:26:02 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2712239</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Damage Progression of Highway Bridges and Operational Vibration-Waveforms
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2627353</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The dynamic response of civil structures has long been utilized in damage detection. Techniques such as vibration-based damage identification, usually focused on experimentally determining modal parameters, have shown promising applications in detecting damage on bridges. A major drawback of most current damage-detection techniques, including the current video-based approach using drones, is their inability to explain the cause or the condition under which certain types of damage occur at different locations on the bridge. In this work, a nondestructive vibration-based approach, operational response and waveform analysis (ORWA), will be used to determine a cause and possible prevention solutions to the local damage occurring on bridges. In ORWA, damage on a bridge is correlated to the structural motions that are generated by the operational crossing traffic. By identifying the type and speed of vehicles that can put the bridge in deformation modes that can cause detrimenttal damage when they cross the bridge, new mitigation, maintenance, and (potentially) traffic rules can be developed to reduce these effects. In a previous work supported by the Iowa Department of Transportation, the initial idea of ORWA was presented and tested on a single-span highway bridge. A modified form of ORWA was developed and used finite element analysis to correlate traffic vibration waveforms with the modal response of the bridge. In this work, ORWA will be enhanced to include a camera-based system that would be integrated and synched with the vibration waveform measurements. The newly developed ORWA will be tested and validated on two bridges in Iowa.

]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:42:07 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2627353</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Novel Constrained Layer Damper for Wind-Induced Vibration Mitigation of High-Mast Illumination Poles</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2505729</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project will develop a novel Constrained Layer Damper (CLD) for retrofitting High-Mast Illumination Pole (HMIP) structures to mitigate wind-induced vibrations. Work in Stage 1 will focus on mechanical characterization of viscoelastic (VE) materials, and the subsequent numerical modeling and optimization of the CLD. A series of axial tests and shear relaxation tests will be performed to obtain the hyperelastic and viscoelastic properties of candidate VE materials using relevant standards. A small-scale tubular cantilever beam will be designed and modeled in Abaqus. The model will be used to perform parametric studies to optimize the thicknesses of the constraining layer and the VE layer. In addition, both steel and carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) will be investigated for the constraining layer. The result will guide the small-scale laboratory validation in Stage 2. To estimate damping enhancement, a static loading will be applied to the numerical models, which will be then removed to generate free-vibration responses. A full-scale HMIP structure will be selected from KDOT’s inventory and modeled in Abaqus to perform parametric studies similar to those performed earlier in Stage 1. In addition to optimizing the thicknesses of the constraining and VE layers, an additional study will analyze the impact of the handhole detail, which the CLD must avoid covering. In Stage 2, laboratory and field validations will be carried out for the developed CLD technology. Small-scale tubular cantilever beam will be fabricated and the proposed CLD will be implemented according to the numerically optimized parameters (e.g., thicknesses of the VE and constraining layers). Free vibration tests will be conducted with the tubular cantilever beam before and after the CLD is installed. Free vibration responses will be recorded using an accelerometer to extract damping ratios. Full-scale HMIP will be instrumented with wireless accelerometers, and pluck tests will be carried out to obtain the intrinsic damping of the HMIP. The optimized CLD design will be installed on the HMIP. Particular attention will be paid to proper anchorage of the constraining layer at the bottom of the CLD to ensure full development of shear strain in the VE layer. This will be followed by pluck tests to assess the level of damping enhancement by the CLD.  The final report will include all relevant data, results, and conclusions. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 03 Feb 2025 22:13:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2505729</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Producing DynaSignal: A Novel Aerodynamic Solution for Traffic Signal Lights to Mitigate Large Vibrations and Fatigue-Related Issues in Structural Supports of Traffic Signals</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2046773</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Cantilevered traffic signal structures are critical components of urban infrastructure, yet their slender, cantilevered design makes them especially vulnerable to wind-induced vibrations. These vibrations caused by mechanisms such as vortex shedding, galloping, and truck-induced gusts can lead to fatigue failures at the pole-to-mast arm connections, where stress concentrations are highest. Compounding the issue is the inherently low mechanical damping (typically 0.1% to 0.4%) in these structures, which exacerbates the amplitude and persistence of dynamic responses under wind loading.

This project builds upon a prior IDEA Type I project that investigated aerodynamic mitigation strategies for traffic signal structures through wind-tunnel laboratory testing and hybrid numerical simulation. The current project implements and validates the mitigation strategy on a full-scale traffic signal structure under natural wind conditions. While the concept of using flat-plate modifications to enhance aerodynamic damping is not itself new, the novelty of this project lies in the scale and scope of validation - namely, the long-term field monitoring of an in-service structure and the quantified demonstration of fatigue-life extension. The mitigation device leverages the geometry of the signal head to passively disrupt wind flow patterns around the mast arm, enhancing aerodynamic damping without requiring additional attachments or fine-tuning.

To evaluate the concept, a full-scale traffic signal structure in Ames, Iowa, was instrumented with accelerometers and strain gauges at critical locations. Over 5 months, the baseline dynamic response of the structure with Original Signal was recorded under varying natural wind conditions. Following this, the signal light design was updated to the version with integrated flat plates (also known as DynaSignal and called Modified Signal hereafter). The structure with Modified Signal was monitored for an additional 5 months. The aerodynamic modification led to significant reductions in both in-plane and out-of-plane vibrations, demonstrating rapid decay of large amplitude motion without adverse impact on the structural function. Importantly, the fatigue analysis confirmed an approximately 2.5-fold increase in estimated fatigue life as compared to the original structure. This research confirms that strategic aerodynamic modifications can effectively address the long-standing challenge of fatigue-prone vibration in cantilevered traffic signal structures. Importantly, the proposed solution does not increase fabrication costs and offers significant economic advantages by reducing long-term maintenance, avoiding structural failures, and extending service life. Also, the aerodynamic retrofit can be readily applied to existing traffic signal structures without requiring major modifications. The scalability of this aerodynamic approach holds promise for broader application to similar cantilevered structures such as overhead sign supports and lighting masts.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 17 Oct 2022 22:05:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2046773</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Mitigation of Transportation Induced Vibration Using Seismic Metamaterials
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1420900</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The increasing traffic intensity on roads, highways, and railways requires that major investments be made to make transportation systems more livable and sustainable, especially in the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC) Region II area. This is due to the high density population in the NYC Metropolitan area where the high speeds and a large capacity of vehicles and trains are highly desired. Such transportation systems create new technical and environmental challenges including noise and ground vibration, which affect ambient architectures, quality of life, and sustainability of the communities. Noise and vibration assessments become key elements of the environmental impact assessment process for mass transit projects, and noise and vibration are among the major concerns with regard to the effects of a transit project on the surrounding community.
The research objective of this project is to design an efficient and economic method to mitigate the vibration induced by transportation activities. Specifically, the research team proposes to use periodically arranged piles in the ground called seismic metamaterials, which attenuate the vibration through the scattering and local resonance phenomena. To achieve this, a computational-experimental framework including integrated modeling, simulation, optimal design, and experimental validation will be developed. First, the team will examine the effectiveness of the proposed seismic metamaterials to mitigate transportation induced vibration through threedimensional numerical simulations. Second, the team will develop a method for the design and optimization of the structured seismic metamaterials with the desired vibration mitigation capability in the targeted frequency range, with proper combination of constituent phases. Third, scaled experimental investigations will be performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed optimal seismic metamaterials.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Aug 2016 15:13:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1420900</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Evaluating the Effectiveness of Vibration-Mitigation Devices for Structural Supports of Signs, Luminaires, and Traffic Signals</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1364352</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Structural supports for signs, luminaires, and traffic signals are typically characterized by high flexibility and low damping, which makes them prone to wind-induced vibration and susceptible to fatigue and structural failure. The use of vibration-mitigation devices could reduce the induced vibration thereby increasing the life of new and existing structures; reducing the costs of new structures; contributing to improved safety for the traveling public; and reducing maintenance, inspection, and repair costs. Although several mitigation devices have been proposed, only a few have been used, primarily due to the absence of test methods for evaluating their effectiveness and implications in the structural design process. Research is needed to develop test procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of these vibration-mitigation devices and considering their effect on the structural design process. Incorporating such procedures into the AASHTO LRFD Specifications for Structural Supports for Signs, Luminaires, and Traffic Signals (AASHTO LRFD SLTS Specifications) would facilitate the use of effective vibration-mitigation devices for new and existing structures and help accrue economic and other benefits.
The objectives of this research were to (1) develop test procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of vibration-mitigation devices for structural supports of signs, luminaires, and traffic signals and (2) propose procedures for considering the effectiveness of these devices in the design process of the structural supports. The findings of this research led to incremental advancement in the body of knowledge on this topic. NCHRP 12-111 Final Contractor's Report is now available.  Draft procedures, derived from this research, were given to AASHTO for consideration for potential incorporation into the AASHTO LRFD SLTS Specifications.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2015 01:01:31 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1364352</guid>
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