andersenKT
loading the structure
Today was a day when we got to break stuff in our structures class! In the previous semester, we built a flitch beam (a hybrid of wood and metal) and crushed it with a machine in the basement of our building that can exert tens of thousands of pounds of pressure.
This semester we are studying lateral forces and concrete. Our first project was to test various structural systems against lateral forces (i.e. wind and earthquakes). The way to do this without taking into consideration gravity or other loads, was to design a "building" that could be suspended from the wall and loaded on it's side. This would demonstrate how three types of structural systems behaved.
My group had to design a braced frame structure, and our brilliant and simple plan was sidetracked several times by not planning out our choice of materials very well. We chose to use aluminum rods as the columns, not realizing until it was too late that no continuous metal pieces could run through joints (e.g. floorplates). So we cut up our metal into bits, and then had to figure out how to glue it back together (gorrilla glue, anyone?). Eventually we settled on a combination of pvc pipe and epoxy, and then were able to string fishing line as our braced elements, creating a giant tension truss. Our original idea had been to make our building totally transparent, and had chosen to use plexiglass as the floor plates.
During testing, our building was able to sustain quite a bit of loading in comparison to its own weight (6 lbs.). Eventually it failed due to the columns not being secure enough in the base, being pulled out and demonstrating the property of "uplift."
Next project in a few weeks: we are casting concrete, making beams, and then crushing them! Breaking stuff is so cool :)
loading the structure
Today was a day when we got to break stuff in our structures class! In the previous semester, we built a flitch beam (a hybrid of wood and metal) and crushed it with a machine in the basement of our building that can exert tens of thousands of pounds of pressure.
This semester we are studying lateral forces and concrete. Our first project was to test various structural systems against lateral forces (i.e. wind and earthquakes). The way to do this without taking into consideration gravity or other loads, was to design a "building" that could be suspended from the wall and loaded on it's side. This would demonstrate how three types of structural systems behaved.
My group had to design a braced frame structure, and our brilliant and simple plan was sidetracked several times by not planning out our choice of materials very well. We chose to use aluminum rods as the columns, not realizing until it was too late that no continuous metal pieces could run through joints (e.g. floorplates). So we cut up our metal into bits, and then had to figure out how to glue it back together (gorrilla glue, anyone?). Eventually we settled on a combination of pvc pipe and epoxy, and then were able to string fishing line as our braced elements, creating a giant tension truss. Our original idea had been to make our building totally transparent, and had chosen to use plexiglass as the floor plates.
During testing, our building was able to sustain quite a bit of loading in comparison to its own weight (6 lbs.). Eventually it failed due to the columns not being secure enough in the base, being pulled out and demonstrating the property of "uplift."
Next project in a few weeks: we are casting concrete, making beams, and then crushing them! Breaking stuff is so cool :)