Structures
Civil Engineering:
Civil Engineering utilizes principles of physics and science to design and develop the maintenance of structures, such as roads, bridges, and dams. It considers all aspects and possible situations of the construction of a building.
Building Science:
Building science is a study that consists of the combination of engineering, physics, chemistry, and architecture in order to understand the behavior of physical structures.
Bridge Designing
Bridge Designer
Using Bridge Builder 2016, we created a bridge capable of withstanding a truck driving over a 32ft gap. By thinning some of the supports, we managed to maximize the cost efficiency of the bridge whilst leaving it structurally sound.
Scaled Design
We modeled our final bridge in Solidworks and used the 3D model as a reference for the construction of the physical bridge.
Bridge
Design Philosophy
Following on from the success of our modular design philosophy in the first two weeks, we decided to separate the building of the bridge into four separate structures, which we then put together at the end in order to create the final product. These four structures were:
The Base Plate - the actual drivable surface of the bridge, which made up the foundation for the other parts of the bridge. It was very important for us to make sure that this was strong and wouldn't end up snapping or breaking at any point. We insured this by adding vertical planks to the underside of the bridge where the cart wheels would be.
The Superstructure - the portion of the bridge above the base plate. Our superstructure was a mixture of a traditional Pratt truss bridge and an arc. The purpose of this was to sustain the tensile and compressive stress caused by vehicles driving on the base plate.
The Substructure - the portion of the bridge below the base plate. Our substructure was built in the same way as the superstructure of a traditional Pratt truss bridge would be built. Its purpose was to sustain the tensile and compressive stresses caused by the vehicles driving on the base plate.
Pillars - Using a T structure we built 4 supports that insert into each corner of the bridge. Their interconnection helps stabilize the x-axis force on the bridge.
Other than the fundamental challenge of just building the bridge in a practical manner, we also had the added hurdle of access to highly limited resources. The resources we were given to use in the construction of the bridge were limited, and although we were allowed to barter with other groups to gain access to additional materials, we aimed to be able to complete the entire bridge using only the resources which our group had been given.
Base Plate
When building the base plate, our focus was to create a structure which would be as stable as it could possibly get while using the least amount of materials. In other words, we wanted to get the best ratio of materials to strength. The way in which we did this was that we used thin 1/8'' x 1/8'' rods to connect together the larger plates, and then built out with perdpendicularly aligned larger plates in order to make it more stable.
Super Structure
We created an arc shape for the super structure of our bridge. We realized that the arc of the super structure is where there will be the most force, so we reinforced it a few times for stability.
Sub Structure
Using a Pratt truss structure we connected the bottom of the base plate to the pillars. The bottom of a bridge is subject to tension, and the substructure reinforces the stress in the base plate by bracing against the pillars
Pillars
The T - pillars are very sturdy and have been connected to add more x axis resistance so the bridge doesn't fall on its own.
Final Bridge
The combination of ingenious design in every component of our bridge, comes together to form this resilient structure!
