Over the Summer of 2020/21 four lucky UQ Undergraduate Engineering students were selected to complete a Summer Research Program which entailed 6 weeks of learning supervised by Dr Cristian Maluk, Abdulrahman "Abed" Zaben (ARC Future Timber Hub PhD Student ) and Dr Henri Bailleres (industry partner at Hyne Timber).
The Summer Research Project was formulated from the ARC Future Timber Hub Project "A prototype hybrid Timber-FRP with enhanced fire and serviceability performance".
UQ Student, Simeon Gover, explained "Reflecting on my time over the summer, I've come to realise that I learnt more than technical skills in Civil and Fire Safety Engineering. The hands-on experience taught me so much more. I learnt about the day-to-day of academic research. I learnt about the struggles associated with self-management when completing a project with no associated curriculum or learning outcomes as guidance.
A project which is now finished. Crowned "The Jolly Jumper" the rig helps to demonstrate the strength granted by reinforcing timber beams in a kinaesthetic manner for users."
The Hub project investigates the use of Advanced Composites to develop a new hybrid Timber-Advanced Composites with enhanced fire and serviceability performance. The Jolly Jumper is a demonstrative setup of this which allows for the common user to “feel” the contrast in bending stiffness for a normal laminated timber beam compared to of a timber beam manufactured using the new technology.
"Bending stiffness is a key design consideration in the design of floor timber systems, most times governing the depth and maximum allowable span of timber floors," said Dr Maluk. "The user experience when using The Jolly Jumper is actually quite simple; bending stiffness is felt by simply jumping while hanging with one foot on the normal timber beam and the other foot on timber beam manufactured using the new technology. This happens while the user watches data plots (on a large live display) from the displacement and force sensors on each of the beams."
UQ Student, Julia Cepon, further noted "The Jolly Jumper provides a tangible demonstration of how carbon fibre reinforcing can improve the structural integrity of timber beams.
This project excited me from the outset, as I had previously researched reinforced timber in the context of designing a Green Bridge - so I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to be involved with the team at the forefront of researching this material. This project allowed me to deepen my understanding of Structural and Fire Safety engineering, experience the trials and tribulations of academic research, and gain an appreciation for the interconnectedness of the design and fabrication process."
The idea for the tangible rig demonstration came from Dr Maluk. In 2012 while at The University of Edinburgh, he spent a month at EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology). Outside EMPA’s Laboratory, there was the rig based on a similar setup showing the benefits of using Advanced Composites for external retrofitting of steel structures. Only with this information, the Team at UQ carried the required structural engineering calculations, design, and construction of what would become "The Jolly Jumper" at UQ. The setup at UQ includes sensors and live digital graphics which allows for the forces acting on the beams and the resulting deformations to be shown live when someone jumps on it.
The UQ Students have expressed immense thanks to Dr Cristian Maluk and Abed Zaben for being mentors throughout the process, to Stewart Matthews, Jason van der Gevel, Van Thuan Nguyen, and Fraser Reid (Staff at UQ’s Structures Lab) for their continuous technical support, and to Dr Henri Bailleres, industry partner at Hyne Timber.
The Jolly Jumper is located outside the east end of Forgan Smith Building at UQ. Visitors are able to test the rig and immediately feel the difference in timber beam strength.
