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Tips:
Keep your design simple and use the principles learned using the Bridge Designer application.
More material does not mean better efficiency. For every gram your structure weighs it needs to hold 500 grams additional load in order to achieve the same target efficiency.
Don't be afraid to start a second iteration from scratch. Sometimes as you refine your design you can see a better way of making it. It is often easier to start from scratch than fix everything. DO NOT delete your old design though; this can be used to document your process.
Previous Project Examples:
Project Instructions
Overview:
Civil Engineers use structures to span gaps in a variety of locations: rivers, canyons, overpasses, and many more. Often the resources available to them are limited and the most critical design factor is efficiency. This means the structure must hold as much weight as possible while minimizing its own weight.
Problem Statement:
Working in 2-person teams design, build, and test a wooden structure to achieve an efficiency (η) greater than or equal to 500.
Efficiency (η) = Critical Load / Mass of Bridge
Problem Description / Requirements:
See year specific rules from the Technology Student Association "HS - Structural Design and Engineering - Problem Statement " PDF linked below
Bridge Designer Analysis:
You can use the Bridge Designer tool to help analyze various bridge designs. There are a few considerations you need to keep in mind.
Select a code based on the number of deck spans 5you plan to use. Recommended codes:
5 Span Deck Bridge: LHS07C
6 Span Deck Bridge: LHS06C
7 Span Deck Bridge: LHS05C
8 Span Deck Bridge: LHS04C
Use the same size for each beam to analyze/compare the efficiency of each structure.
Increase/decrease beams, keeping them equal in size, until the bridge works. Compare size of beams required for the bridge to work instead of cost. You can only do a direct comparison between bridges of the same code.
You can use analysis tool to determine which beams you should consider making the thicker variant (1/8" vs 1/4").
Keep in mind the constraints for you problem year.
Useful Resources
Useful Resources
Onshape template for this year's competition.
The Onshape file for the example structure built in the video below.
PITSCO Bridge Book showing how to design and build structures.
The engineering drawing for the example structure built in the video below.
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