Appendix C Research Topics_Final 27 Jan 2023.pdf

FRA BAA 2023

Federal Railroad Administration Office of Research, Development, and Technology

Broad Agency Announcement – BAA 2023

Appendix C – Research Topics

Note: Concept papers may be submitted at any time, through the closing date of the research topic.

Track Research Topic Title Closing Date for Concept

Papers

FRA-TR-001 Next Generation Solid-State Welding Strategies Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-TR-002

Evaluation of Potential Risk for Track-Caused Derailments Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-TR-003 Instrumented Broken Spike Detection Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-TR-004

Innovative Methods for Measuring Longitudinal Rail Stress

Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-TR-005 Advancing Rail Flaw Detection Capability Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-TR-006

Research in Response to Track Division Strategic Priorities (see BAA Section 2.3) Mar. 15, 2023

Rolling Stock and Equipment

FRA-RS-001 Energy and Emissions Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-RS-002

Developing a Battery Charger – Electrical Power System for Individual Freight Car Application Mar. 15, 2023

Train Control

FRA-TC-001

Broken Rail Detection to Support Communications-

Based Operation Research

Human Factors

FRA-HF-001

Social and Community Factors Contributing to Pedestrian Trespass Behaviors (and Motorist

Incursions) on Railroad Systems

FRA-HF-002

Leveraging the Transportation Technology Center for Human Factors Research Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-HF-003

Human Factors in Software for Intelligent Rail Systems Mar. 15, 2023

Railroad Systems Issues

FRA-RSI-001

Addressing Equity Challenges in Evolving Railroad

Workforce Training Trends and Best Practices Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-RSI-002

Influencing Successful Practices in Knowledge Management within the Railroad Industry Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-RSI-003 Encouraging Early Interest in Railroad Careers Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-RSI-004

Equity in Rail Workforce Recruitment – Identifying and Training Leadership for Succession Planning Mar. 15, 2023

FRA-RSI-005 LGBTQ+ Equity and Inclusion in the Railroad Industry Mar. 15, 2023

Track Research

Topic: FRA-TR-001

Title: Next Generation Solid-State Welding Strategies

Welds (both thermite and flash butt) are often considered the weakest link when it comes to rail integrity within the track system. While rail steels have seen significant improvement in strength over the years, welding strategies have not improved at nearly the same rate. Previous studies have shown that the heat-affected zones tend to degrade more rapidly than the weld itself or the parent rail, resulting in rail breaks or premature rail removals on heavy-haul lines.

This topic seeks comprehensive research to advance rail-end-to-rail-end welding technologies to reduce these weld failures and, in turn, reduce the potential for high-consequence derailments. The proposed project should include a conceptual stage to thoroughly identify the technical risks associated with the technology and develop a systematic plan to address these risks. Offerors can study small-scale samples to control costs during the early research phases. Later phases of the proposed project can address efforts to scale the process up to 136RE rail and ensure the end product meets current AREMA standards. Offerors should focus on proving the technology works and not on the development of production field equipment.

Topic: FRA-TR-002 – University Only

Title: Evaluation of Potential Risk for Track-Caused Derailments

North American railroads are increasingly using more sophisticated instrumentation to inspect various elements comprising the track structure, often with unmanned equipment. As a result, some railroads have sought regulatory relief to reduce the number or frequency of manual inspections of the track infrastructure. However, there is no existing framework to evaluate how overall safety risk changes when combining new technologies with different manual inspection regimes.

This topic seeks projects to develop a risk evaluation framework capable of quantifying the potential reduction in risk of a track-caused derailment and the associated safety improvements due to these developments. Specific areas the framework must address include:

• Quantify the potential for a train derailment at a specific track geometry defect.

• Quantify how the potential for a track-caused derailment changes for non-measurable conditions compared to measurable geometry issues.

• Quantify how the frequency and distribution of instrumented and manual track inspections affect the risk of a track-caused derailment.

The framework must be able to quantify the safety risk of existing manual inspection processes, so special consideration must be given to the effects of human factors on manual inspection processes, both on its own as well as when combined with autonomous operations.

Because the framework may eventually be used in regulatory decisions, “black box” machine learning or Artificial Intelligence models are not acceptable models. Rather, preference will be given to probability-based approaches. The framework must use publicly available data and may not rely on information or training data provided by any one railroad or group of railroads.

Topic: FRA-TR-003

Title: Instrumented Broken Spike Detection

FRA is sponsoring research to identify the root cause(s) of spike failures (all types) in wood tie track.

Publications highlighting this research are available on the FRA eLibrary:

Investigating the Prominent Failure Mode of Cut Spikes Used in Elastic Fastening Systems

Timber Crosstie Spike Fastener Failure Investigation

Timber Crosstie Spike Fastener Failure Investigation: Field Evaluation of an Alternative Fastener

Automated Broken Spike Detection – Phase I

Many spike failures occur below the tie surface and are not identifiable with visual methods. It can be challenging to locate these failures in track. The objective of this topic is research and development of an accurate, non-destructive, and instrumented method to detect broken spike fasteners in wood tie track. Solutions can be direct measures of spike condition, i.e., whole, cracked, or broken, or relative indicators of spike issues in track that require further inspection.

Ideally, the technologies should be deployable as a handheld tool to support spot inspections during a routine track inspection using a moving hi-rail vehicle. Separate technology solutions may be warranted to support each application, and researchers are free to develop their own creative solutions. The objective is to find these problem spikes in track in an instrumented manner. Prior work has shown some success with acoustic and ultrasonic techniques, but other techniques may be viable. It may also be possible to develop a machine vision system to identify evidence of damaged spikes in the track area, e.g., detection of broken spikes in the ballast or detection of uplifted and bent spikes. These data could indicate an area experiencing high spike loads and failures. Another possible solution could leverage machine vision and the track vibration induced by a hi-rail to assess the relative motion of spikes. Spikes with unique vibration modes may be damaged.

Topic: FRA-TR-004

Title: Innovative Methods for Measuring Longitudinal Rail Stress

The stress state of rail is a key parameter that drives rail safety. Effective management of thermal stresses in rail is critical to preventing rail buckles and pull-a-parts. The objective of this research is to develop technologies that can accurately determine the in-situ stress state of rail. There are two potential research areas under this topic:

1. Trackside Measurement – Research and develop a measurement technique able to quantify the absolute stress state of rail and identify the rail’s neutral temperature (stress-free state).

The system shall operate without disturbing the track structure and without prior knowledge of the zero-stress state of the rail. Offerors shall demonstrate knowledge of the past research in this area and an understanding of the scientific and other technical challenges encountered in these efforts.

2. Moving Proxy Measurement – Spot-checking for desirable RNT using trackside measurement is not practical, given the roughly 280,000 miles of rail in the U.S. FRA believes that it is currently too difficult to precisely measure the rail force from a moving platform. However, it may be possible to research and develop a proxy measurement able to estimate the https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/investigating-prominent-failure-mode-cut-spikes-used-elastic-fastening-systems https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/timber-crosstie-spike-fastener-failure-investigation https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/timber-crosstie-spike-fastener-failure-investigation-field-evaluation-alternative-fastener https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/automated-broken-spike-detection-phase-i longitudinal rail force. A proxy measurement that can identify areas where the force in the rails is significantly different from other areas on the same line could be of great value to the industry. Proposed research must make these measurements from a moving vehicle and should not rely on polling sensors mounted to the track structure or measurements made at the journal box. Preference will be given to projects and technologies that can possibly be operated at a low cost on revenue service trains.

Topic: FRA-TR-005

Title: Advancing Rail Flaw Detection Capability

Internal rail flaws can lead to train derailments that result in human fatalities and injuries, environment damage, and high costs. This topic seeks projects that address one or more of the following rail flaw inspection research objectives:

• Non-contact rail inspection at track speed (i.e., up to 45 mph or greater)

• Full rail (i.e., not just rail head), rail base, or weld inspection for internal and external defects

• 3D imaging of internal rail flaws (Portability is desirable for field verification of flaws.)

Offerors shall demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of the scientific and other technical challenges encountered in similar past efforts. Offerors must explain how their proposed research differs from prior work and how it advances the state of the art. Preferences shall be given to research projects and technologies that have a higher Technology Readiness Level or are ready for field or application testing. Projects should be focused to obtain significant, measurable results.

Topic: FRA-TR-006

Title: Research in Response to Track Division Strategic Priorities (see BAA Section 2.3)

This topic is reserved for research projects that do not respond to one of the other Track topics, but are responsive to the strategic priorities detailed in BAA Section 2.3

Rolling Stock Topic: FRA-RS-001

Title: Energy and Emissions

FRA is aware of potential benefits from the increased use of clean energy technologies (hydrogen, battery energy storage systems (BESS), alternative fuels, etc.), but must ensure these alternative fuels and energy sources are safe when used to power rail vehicles. The rail operating environment is extremely harsh, and equipment operated in this space must be structurally resilient, maintained in a state-of-good-repair, operationally immune, and safe. FRA-sponsored research will investigate the crashworthiness, safe operation protocols, fire safety, workforce development, and emissions reduction capabilities of these technologies. In addition, FRA will be evaluating the benefits of the new decarbonization technologies in promoting environmental justice.

FRA seeks support to develop and execute research test programs for clean energy technologies.

FRA invites proposals on the following topics:

• Structural crashworthiness of fuel storage systems and appurtenances in the BESS and hydrogen-fueled rail propulsion technologies used in railroad operations.

• Identification of state-of-the-art testing laboratories, both commercial and government facilities, that can accommodate large-scale tests for fire and the dynamic and static impact of rail vehicles using clean energy technologies (BESS, hydrogen, etc.).

• Development of test plans for realistic tests and computer simulation to evaluate the safety of rail clean energy technologies, e.g., small- and large-scale crash and fire tests.

• Investigation of the potential effects of electromagnetic interference from high-power battery recharging of electric trains and how it may adversely affect safe operations of trains other nearby rail equipment and wayside signal systems.

• Evaluating the performance of BESS, hydrogen fuel cell, and other non-traditional railroad propulsion technologies under railroad environment shock and vibration loading and environmental climate changes

• Investigating the efficiency and emissions of biofuel in rail applications

• Conduct an ergonomic and behavioral study of the impact of new technologies (BESS, hydrogen, etc.) on workforces employed in the rail space – specifically, how railroad employee duties will change with the introduction of these technologies.

Topic: FRA-RS-002

Title: Developing a Battery Charger – Electrical Power System for Individual Freight Car Application

Battery powering systems provide auxiliary power on railcars, supplying both large bursts of electrical power for larger mechanical actuation systems and lower electrical supply for small sensors and probes. Newer and proven communications and controls devices/features are constantly being developed for railcars. These devices could be harnessed as an important addition to the safety of railroad operations – hence, the need for a reliable power source. The battery system providing power for these systems need to be robust and reliable. Therefore, FRA seeks research concepts for the development of a battery charging system for a railcar’s 12 VDC/24 VDC auxiliary power supply. The ideal charging system shall be applied to individual freight cars instead of trainline charging. Currently, there is an alternate system in development that requires a powerline down the full length of a train. Although this technology has proven promise, standalone car applications would be more easily adopted by the industry due to less upfront expenditures. This is because the system could be applied to individual cars where desired, instead of relying on a locomotive-powered, train-length power line.

The charging system should be designed to provide charging of a 12 VDC/24 VDC battery powering system rated at a minimum of 240 Watt-hours, based on an appliance that uses 10 Watts per hour for 24 hours. This load is a reasonable estimate for charge replacement necessary for data acquisition systems in the future.

Train Control & Communications Topic: FRA-TC-001

Title: Broken Rail Detection to Support Communications-Based Operation Research

FRA and U.S. freight railroads have developed operational concepts for Quasi-Moving Block and Full Moving Block train control systems. If deployed, these systems could safely increase rail network capacity without having to construct additional track. For these train control methods to be viable, alternative methods of broken rail detection must be developed.

FRA seeks concept papers on the following topics:

• Development and evaluation of onboard broken rail detection system concepts and requirements

• Assessment of candidate supplementary systems for detection of rollouts and mitigation of spontaneous rail breaks

• Performance of onboard broken rail detection safety analysis

Description of Research Need: A crucial requirement for implementing moving block operations is an alternative to conventional track circuits that could both directly enhance the overall performance, reliability, and safety of the overall train control system, as well as support increased capacity by eliminating the operational constraints imposed by conventional track circuits.

Technology Focus Areas: Broken Rail Detection, Positive Train Control, Rail Communication Systems

Human Factors

Topic: FRA-HF-001

Title: Social and Community Factors Contributing to Pedestrian Trespass Behaviors (and Motorist Incursions) on Railroad Systems

Trespass is a leading cause of rail-related casualties in the U.S. However, the factors contributing to trespassing on railroad rights-of-way and at grade crossings are both specific to local communities and consistent across communities nationwide. FRA is interested in understanding the factors that influence both pedestrian and motorist incursions on railroad tracks. The aim of this topic is to identify the varied contextual factors that influence risk-taking behaviors within the railroad system.

Topic: FRA-HF-002

Title: Leveraging the Transportation Technology Center for Human Factors Research

FRA has developed an initiative to create a Grade Crossing Testbed at DOT’s Transportation Technology Center (TTC). In an effort to leverage the facility to facilitate human factors (HF) research, FRA is interested in projects that would use the field testing environment at TTC.

Specifically, work related to how people interact with grade crossings is of interest. Innovative and transformative HF topics will be considered.

Topic: FRA-HF-003

Title: Human Factors in Software for Intelligent Rail Systems

FRA is seeking projects related to applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in railroad operations. FRA is interested in developing and testing systems engineering processes for embedded AI software. Also of interest is research exemplifying how AI and enabling software in general changes operational processes, procedures, and related policies in the railroad domain. FRA is interested in research yielding methodologies on aspects of human-automation teaming and embedded human-artificial intelligence teaming software that addresses the design, testing, evaluation, verification, and validation of this software for transportation systems.

Research needs for the U.S. Air Force reported in the National Academy of Sciences, Committee on Human Systems Integration’s Human-AI Teaming: State of the Art and Research Needs (2022) are also of interest to FRA. Research may address, but are not limited to:

• New ways of conducting testing, evaluation, verification, and validation of software of transportation systems with, or without, embedded AI in actual, simulated, or real-world settings.

• Requirements development for transportation systems with AI and machine learning software that includes the human-machine interface.

• Develop a framework for assessing the risk associated with transportation systems incorporating software with embedded AI.

• Potential human performance issues related to training and operations with the introduction of intelligent rail systems and embedded AI.

• Examples of human role changes with the implementation of intelligent rail systems

• Demonstrated usefulness of multidisciplinary teams in software and embedded AI development that are comprised of computer science, human factors engineering, socio-technical science, and systems engineering specialties.

• Bias in the design, interpretation and understanding of AI algorithms

• Research that addresses poor human-AI interaction

Railroad Systems Issues

Topic: FRA-RSI-001

Title: Addressing Equity Challenges in Evolving Railroad Workforce Training Trends and Best Practices

Training the current and future rail workforce is rapidly evolving, partially resulting from the COVID- 19 pandemic. Technologies and approaches to facilitate learning at all levels have been increasing.

This evolution of training and educational delivery will dramatically affect learning methods and delivery and pose a challenge to ensure trainees or students are given equitable opportunities to develop their skills. This comprehensive approach should place an emphasis on diversity, exploring training equity issues and opportunities in minority-serving institutions (MSIs), technical/vocational/trade schools, community colleges, and other underrepresented groups and locations. The objectives of this research are to:

https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnap.nationalacademies.org%2Fcatalog%2F26355%2Fhuman-ai-teaming-state-of-the-art-and-research-needs&data=05%7C01%7Candrew.duffin%40dot.gov%7C869ee203c3904c4c2e2208daa21afd0c%7Cc4cd245b44f04395a1aa3848d258f78b%7C0%7C0%7C638000534042469314%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Nn8GuLHMnLtlJqQJJ%2B9WDxbQkVVZT1ozF4iU4wa3ciI%3D&reserved=0

• Identify the most effective methods for railroad training across the trainee/student spectrum.

• Identify learning barriers posed by new training practices (access, equity, diversity, inclusion).

• Identify training equity criteria and measures of successful implementation.

• Identify inequities in certifying training and work experience and the transportability of credentials across the industry.

• Find methods to provide academic institutions the ability to identify and rapidly adapt and respond to emerging workforce development requirements.

• Identify training institutions that have rail education programs, and promote the reskilling/upskilling needed for trade and craft positions in the industry’s workforce.

• Explore opportunities to build effective partnerships and networks with MSIs, which include historically Black colleges and universities, to connect the needs of MSIs in achieving training equity.

Topic: FRA-RSI-002

Title: Influencing Successful Practices in Knowledge Management within the Railroad Industry

This topic seeks to understand and identify standards and successful practices in knowledge management (KM) in the railroad industry. The industry has consistently identified KM as a major workforce issue as referenced in FRA research reports. As retirements and workforce shrinkages continue to degrade in-house knowledge, railroad leaders need to consider aggressive planning of a robust knowledge management strategy that captures their organization’s intellectual capital.

Traditional methods of building successful career paths into and within the railroad industry need to be rethought and re-designed to accommodate new, diverse, and prepared/teachable talent (inclusive of those with or without previous railroad experience). The objectives of this research include:

• Provide a foundation and/or framework that considers people, process, technology, and information/data.

• Identify appropriate measures of outcomes and impact, and other rail-specific factors necessary to transfer critical knowledge.

• Determine how KM should be integrated into other aspects of employee growth and development – including training, onboarding and developmental experiences, and other phases of the employee life cycle.

• Consider practices from other industries and their applicability, feasibility, and scalability with regard to railroads.

Topic: FRA-RSI-003 – University Only

Title: Encouraging Early Interest in Railroad Careers

Getting started in a career in railroading currently requires no college nor a trade school education.

Further, an aging workforce, increased retirement of rail workers, and technological advancements have created a situation ripe for the development of new talent to account for potential changes in the railroad industry. There are few early educational programs that introduce and prepare children and adolescents for careers in railroading. The closest academic analog to the occupational requirements of careers within the railroad industry lie within educational programs grounded in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Therefore, it is possible to leverage the current STEM fervor, which has resulted in the creation of magnet schools throughout the country, to introduce young people to railroading as a career.

A DOT priority is to ensure equity and economic opportunity/recovery in jobs. FRA seeks to support DOT’s priority by introducing young people to railroading and fostering diversity to ensure equitable access to these careers. This topic seeks to: (1) identify novel approaches to increasing early (K–12) awareness and interest in railroad career; (2) implement creative strategies to cast a wider net to identify talent early, especially in underrepresented groups; and (3) establish a pipeline that will allow training and development at the post-secondary level.

This initiative could include the following:

• Mentoring opportunities between minority serving institutions and other academic institutions with railroad-specific programs/majors

• Programs that partner K-12 academic institutions with railroads to increase awareness of railroad careers.

• Apprenticeships, internships, or co-op opportunities that will allow students at the K–12, collegiate, or vocation levels to get hands-on experience in daily operations and develop safety awareness.

• STEM conferences and/or competitions that challenge young minds to identify and solve rail-related problems.

• Curriculum development that integrates railroad science, technology, and engineering into STEM programs.

Establish a railroad adoption program that allows railroads to adopt local schools.

Topic: FRA-RSI-004 – University Only

Title: Equity in Rail Workforce Recruitment – Identifying and Training Leadership for Succession Planning

Diversity within the rail industry workforce has been a pervasive issue for decades. Our workforce development research continues to identify diversity as an industry-wide challenge. This issue presents itself in all position levels, including all leadership ranks. The lack of diversity among leaders across the railroad industry suggests that succession planning is failing to identify and attract diverse talent for consideration. Failure to attract adequate numbers of women and minorities means the candidate pool of internal talent available to assume leadership positions remains insufficient, fueling a self-fulfilling prophecy of non-diverse selections for leadership positions. Succession planning enables the early formation of candidate slates from which leadership selections occur. A look at current succession plans accurately forecasts the makeup of the next wave of leadership.

Thus, the objectives of this research include:

• Researching and identifying innovative ways to augment existing succession plans with suitably skilled, diverse talent from across the rail industry and tangential industries.

• Conducting studies and determining the underlying issues affecting broad workforce equity issues, and propose solutions to improve diversity across all rail occupations (as a way of increasing potential internal candidates for promotional opportunities).

• Partnering with rail unions to increase awareness and focus on equity for all rail workers and exploring innovative seniority considerations to expedite movement among diverse candidates.

• Identifying and developing leadership training on nurturing diverse talent and ensuring the workplace welcomes them. Identify tangential best practices and policies from other agencies, organizations, and global entities.

• Benchmark tangential best practices and policies from other agencies, organizations, and global entities.

Topic: FRA-RSI-005 – University Only

Title: LGBTQ+ Equity and Inclusion in the Railroad Industry

The diversity challenge within the railroad industry exists across all diversity categories (e.g., all races, genders, as well as LGBTQ+ categories). Isolating this particular underrepresented category allows for the precise focus on both macro and micro issues impeding their inclusion across the industry. Currently no data exists indicating the rate at which LGBTQ+ individuals exist within the railroad workforce. Additionally, the climate across the industry may not openly embrace LGBTQ+ individuals, forcing those that do exist to hide their true orientation. This area of research will explore ways to openly advance inclusiveness among the LGBTQ+ community, raise an awareness of issues preventing inclusion and outreach efforts to begin attracting LGBTQ+ individuals to railroad jobs. Thus, the objectives of this research include:

• Identifying a suitable method for quantifying the railroad workforce by sexual orientation

• Developing and making available training for leaders on sexual orientation sensitivity and ways to eliminate bias

Studying methods used to attract LGBTQ+ workers, dynamics that may hinder their decision to consider rail careers, and the cultural norms that hinder inclusion