CIV102: Matboard Beam Bridge

Secondary Research - Converging

In this project, our use of secondary research was not time-efficient, and we had trouble knowing when to try different research methods. During the design process, one of our team members had an idea to shorten the diaphragms between the webs, such that they no longer reached the full way to the bottom of the web. These partial-height diaphragms are shown in the photo below.

This design element would allow us to save more material which we could then reallocate to other parts of the bridge. However, this also meant the webs were no longer supported along their full height. The equations we learned in the course only allowed us to perform calculations for full-height diaphragms, so we were unsure how much the reduction in diaphragm height would impact the strength of our design. We decided to do some secondary research to see if there was a way to deal with this type of structure, and eventually converge on our final choice of diaphragm dimensions. We found the equation below, which we thought might apply to our situation, but we were having trouble understanding it. We spend lots of time trying to understand this equation, while also searching other online sources for answers.

In the end, we realized we weren't making progress, so we decided to ask one of the Teaching Assistants about it, and he said that it would probably be fine to use the same equations we had learned in the course for full-height diaphragms. This gave us confidence to proceed with the shorter diaphragms, and they were able to withstand all loads during testing until the bridge failed in another area (not due to the modified diaphragms).

Thus, all the time we had spent thinking and searching online could have been saved if we had asked the TA our question earlier. Although it was a good instinct to try to find the answer through articles online, it would have also been better to recognize when the current research method was ineffective, and to try another method (e.g, consulting a person with more experience in the field).