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Final Bridge Design.JPG

Final design of our prototype - compressive forces, shown in red, were minimized, and tensile forces, shown in blue, were maximized

STATICS AND MECHANICS OF MATERIALS:

Bridge Building

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Part of my Statics and Mechanics Of Materials course was a team design project.  The goal was to design and construct a bridge that could hold 100 lbs, while keeping costs of materials to a minimum.

DESIGN & PROTOTYPING

  • Researched the properties of balsa wood, the required material of our bridge

  • Used a bridge simulator to minimize compressive forces and maximize tensile forces, based on previously found properties (seen to the left)

  • Constructed our prototype and tested it (as seen to the left).  It held approximately 160 lbs and had a force to weight ratio of about 260

  • Decreased height of bridge by 3 inches to reduce torsion under loading and also increase its force to weight ratio

Our prototype after testing 

RESULTS

Our final bridge held 217.2 lbs, a 36% increase from the prototype, and had a force to weight ratio of 392.55, a 51% increase. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special thanks to my team members: 

  • Amelia Glenn (Materials Science)

  • Emily Gorges (Bioengineering)

  • Amelia Wear (Mechanical Engineering)

Our final bridge held more weight than our prototype by 36%

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