-Week 2-
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Windmill Activity

This was the first windmill activity we worked on. This helped us truly understand how wind flow works, and the optimal blade amounts.

Bridge Activity

This was the intial bridge activity we worked on. This first project helped us learn how tension works in bridges, and where we should optimally place pillars.

Battery Tester

This was the battery tester we used. This project helped us greatly in our understanding of battery flow, and later helped us in our motor design.

Intial Bridge Design

We first modeled our bridge in BridgeDesigner, a digital simulator to predict how the bridge would react to weight and load. The goal was to balance the tension and the compression to make successful bridge. The members of the underside of the bridge intially struggled with tension, while the top struggled with compression until we successfully balanced it.

Bridge in CAD

The next step was to model our bridge in CAD software to print for a simulation. The bridge design changed at this step to match closer to the specifications and requirements we needed for the project.

Windmill Base 3D Model

This was the model for our fully completed windmill base in Tinkercad. It translated very well in person.

Windmill Blade 3D Model

This was the model for one of our individual blades in Onshape. It also translated well in person.

Final Bridge Design

This was our final bridge design before testing. Building on our initial model and CAD work, we settled on an under-deck truss system reinforced with support beams. Placing the trusses beneath the deck let us better manage the tension on the underside and the compression along the top, the exact balance we struggled with in our first design. The support beams distributed the load across the structure, and the finished bridge held its weight successfully during testing.

IMG_3844.mp4

Windmill Spinning Video.mp4

Final Windmill Design

This was what the final model of our windmill looked like before testing. Based off of our previous activities, like the demo windmill, we opted to use an 8-bladed design alongside a slick and sturdy base. This model proved to be extremely efficient, as the strong base successfully carried the weight of the blades.

copy_35BCE240-076D-4F7B-9145-4BA3076B8FD7.MOV

Final Bridge Testing

Our bridge testing was a success. To test how much weight our under-deck truss design could hold, we loaded the deck with bricks one at a time. The bridge held 6 bricks, with the support beams and trusses distributing the load across the structure. One improvement we could've made was to reinforce the connection points, which took on the most stress during the test.

IMG_3852.MOV

Final Windmill Testing

Our windmill testing was a success! We were able to efficiently light up the LED with out 8-bladed design. A improvement we could've made onto our project was to potentially add a sturdier design to the motor in the back.

Reflection: This week we worked on the Windmill and Bridge. We split up two people on each and the fifth person helped with the website, research paper, and miscellaneous tasks for both teams. This helped us work efficiently and in unison. The windmill was very successful and built properly in time. The bridge on the other hand was more challenging, but we ended up settling on an under-deck truss design with the time and resources we were given. We built support beams to help support the under deck truss compents which helped a lot. Ultimately our bridge was able to handle six bricks before collapsing. To make this design even better building an over deck component with even mroe support is crucial. If we had more time or wood we would've definitely expanded on this idea.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse

-Week 2- Civil & Environmental Engineering