Behaviour of fibre composite walkways and grating

Throughout modern engineering, there has been a push to research, develop and implement new and innovative building materials as a substitution for the materials currently being used which have showed various forms of deterioration and faulting. This project specifically focuses on the field of construction of boardwalks and walkways. The aim of this research project was to investigate how fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) grating behaves mechanically while being subject to various types of static loading. A numerical simulation using 3D modelling software was also undertaken to compare simulation results with results found during the physical testing. A series of full scale and sample sized tests were undertaken to help in determining the mechanical properties and behaviour of the FRP grating. The full scale testing included static line loading, and two different concentrated loadings; central to the panel as well as off centre loading. 3 different sample sized tests were also undertaken to help gain an understanding of the material properties. These sample sized tests included, flexural, compressive, as well as a burn out test. The failure of the full scale line loading test was observed as major cracking and slight delamination of the grating directly underneath the loading bar. The two concentrated loading cases showed very similar failure modes to each other which consisted of the loading block sinking into the grid immediately surrounding the loading area while the rest of the panel remained intact. The line loading cases reached a maximum of approximately 56.16kN of force which resulted in 64.85mm of deflection. The centred concentrated load was tested to 33.37kN for a maximum deflection of 49.14mm, whereas the off centre loading reached 57.24mm for a maximum load of 34.93kN. As part of the sample sized testing system, a burn out test was undertaken to estimate firstly the density of the provided FRP grating as well as the glass to resin ratio. The density of this material was calculated to be 1544kg/m3 with a glass to resin ratio of 54% glass fibre to 46% resin. As part of the sample sized tests, other material properties were determined including a flexural modulus of 9.89GPa and a compressive strength of approximately 69.84GPa. These results aided in assigning a material property to a model as part of the FE analysis using the software PTC Creo for simulation. The results from the various FEA simulations gave very closely comparable results to those in the physical testing

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead