Wednesday July 14

Understanding how a material behaves under load is an important aspect in the design of structures. Engineers need to understand material properties and how they affect a material's ability to transfer loads. This allows engineers to wisely choose the appropriate material for building a structure as some materials are optimal in only tension or only compression. However, most materials can experience both tension and compression simultaneously. You will see how creative engineering can lead to utilizing certain materials and creating structures that transfer loads in unique ways. These types of structures are usually very intriguing as well as providing architects with an abundance of creative ideas that are structurally safe.

The term compression refers to the force that is squishing or compressing a material. Tension is the force that is acting to stretch a material. Ropes are an example of a material that can only carry things in tension due to having no rigidity. Engineers often incorporate tension when designing their structures. Sometimes engineers can even design structures that rely primarily on tension or compression. Depending on the design, engineers can create tensegrity structures. Now we can try to incorporate these ideas and create our own tensegrity table.

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