Research Results
Railroad Bridge Inspection Using Drone-Based Digital Image Correlation
Continuous railroad operations on aging railway infrastructure requires systematic and effective inspection. Visual inspections are time consuming and can lead to inconsistent results. In a research project conducted between April 2021 and June 2022, the University of South Carolina (UofSC)...
Fire Test of an UN-T75 Portable Tank on a Flat Car Phase II
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) contracted Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to evaluate the fire performance of an alternative fuel storage tank using analytical methods and fire testing. The objective of this project was to expose an LNG rail storage tank to fire conditions and...
Impact of Shoulder Cleaning on Ballast Drainage
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) jointly supported Transportation Technology Center, Inc., (TTCI) to investigate the influence of shoulder ballast cleaning (SBC) on the performance of fine-filled ballast. Repeated vehicle loadings degrade...
Evaluation of Longitudinal Wing Slopes for No. 20 Frogs
In a collaboration between the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Association of American Railroads (AAR), Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) investigated the benefits of modified No. 20 frogs on mitigating damage to the frog point, heel, and wing rails under heavy-haul...
Utilization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Accident Reconstruction
The Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe), under the direction of the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Office of Research, Development and Technology (RD&T), conducted a research study to evaluate the effectiveness of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) (also known as...
Expansion of Rail Flaw Library at the Transportation Technology Center
Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) began adding naturally occurring rail flaws to the Rail Flaw Library of Associated Defects (RF-LOAD) by acquiring defective rails from the field with funding by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Rail samples containing service induced flaws...
DOT-117 Tank Car Flaw Library Development for NDE Study
In a FRA-funded initiative started in October 2019, researchers at Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (MxV Rail) created a new set of master gauge test panels for DOT-117 tank cars and expanded the tank car flaw library at FRA’s Transportation Technology Center (TTC) near Pueblo, CO.
Virtual Block Track Circuit Assessment
To research the Virtual Block Track Circuit (VBTC) concept and evaluate the performance of a supplier’s prototype, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) sponsored Transportation Technology Center, Inc. from 2021 through August 2022 to perform a capacity analysis related to potential...
Rainy Section at FAST: Phase I Summary
As part of continuing research into mud pumping and fine-filled ballast, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Association of American Railroads studied how moisture in fine-filled ballast can affect track performance. The goals of this research were to better identify problematic...