|
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Railroad Engineering Research
Current and Recent Projects- May 2007
CURRENT RAILROAD RESEARCH PROJECTS
* Optimization of railroad infrastructure capacity enhancements
* Improving the efficiency of railcar safety appliance inspection using machine vision technology
* Machine vision system for automatic monitoring of intermodal train aerodynamic efficiency
* Multispectral (visual range and infrared) inspection of railcar and locomotive undercarriages
* Optimizing the energy efficiency of intermodal train loading patterns
* Use of "smart" sensors to monitor the health and performance of insulated rail joints
* Smart sensors for real-time monitoring of brake beam forces on railcars
* Risk analysis of rail transportation of toxic inhalation hazard
(TIH) materials
* Environmental risk analysis of railroad tank car transportation of hazardous materials
* Multi-attribute optimization analysis of tank car safety design
* Minimizing hazardous materials rail transportation risk by route rationalization
* Use of statistical and neural network approaches to predict the occurrence and location of broken rails
* Discrete-element analysis of the strength and stability of the railroad ballast section and track structure
* Analysis and development of performance criteria for plastic crossties
* Analysis of the performance and material characteristics of fastener insulators and tie pads
* Fiber-optical sensors for detection of hunting-induced forces on rail
* Optimal location of wayside defect detection installations
RECENT RAILROAD RESEARCH PROJECTS
* Development and evaluation of new improved steels for railroad frogs
* Quantitative analysis of factors affecting railroad accident probability and severity
* Development of strategies to improve railroad classification yard performance and efficiency
* Effectiveness and economics of locomotive dynamic brake energy recovery technologies
* A vibration technique for estimation of neutral temperature in continuously welded rail
|
