Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Jonathan - Week 7 Blog Entry

Last week, we got to test our bridge and compare the results to our peers' results. Our bridge was able to hold 30 pounds while costing $243k, which isn't so bad. We had to go through some nasty efforts to get the bridge on a level surface because the stilts had some grooves that made our bridge unstable. This week, we will continue coming up with designs to improve our current bridge, or try and think of a new design for the 3' bridge. An issue that we might have to face is the fact that we have to try and put a small 2" x 3" tunnel inside of our bridge, and our web interior doesn't allow us to do that.
If I was able to find any sort of numbers on our Knex bridge, I would like to find the stress buildup on all of the trusses and gusset plates. This way, I would easily tell which ones are strong, and which ones need to be reinforced. I wouldn't know an exact method, but I guess an easy way to approximate is to count how many connections a gusset plate is making and assume it builds more stress upon every truss. I would also like to have an easy way to count up all of the different kinds of trusses and gusset plates that are used within the bridge.

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