science geeks?

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Rufio
your daughter is going to have a kickass bridge.

and the other kids will have Sh!thole bridges that can't hold a feather......because they didnt' have the power of ATOT behind them!!!

How many civil engineers does it take to build a bridge? 😉

 

[Martin]

Originally posted by: simms

Originally posted by: Martin
simms beat me to it. that west point bridge building software is nice to play around with. Once you have somethign good in that, try to replicate it using wood.

gl

UofT Engineering = :thumbsup: :beer:😀

Only during the summer 😉

 

[SagaLore]

One word. Buckminsterfullerene. 😉

 

[Atomicus]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Martin
you have probably figured this out already, but nevertheless: According to this
http://www.woodbin.com/ref/wood/strength_defs.htm

wood is much better in compression, so whatever truss you use to build it, put it on top the bridge.

I'm thinking that if you put the truss atop the bridge, you'll get more tensile loading.

It doesn't matter; it will have both tension and compressive forces on members.
Use West Point Bridge Designer to figure out which members have the highest compression and compression and design those as the biggest since they will need the strength.

If there are no restraints as to the # of supports beneath the deck, then I'd use that loophole to my advantage and just place a ton of supports beneath.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: SagaLore
One word. Buckminsterfullerene. 😉

I wouldn't build my bridge out of that.... 😉

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Atomicus

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Martin
you have probably figured this out already, but nevertheless: According to this
http://www.woodbin.com/ref/wood/strength_defs.htm

wood is much better in compression, so whatever truss you use to build it, put it on top the bridge.

I'm thinking that if you put the truss atop the bridge, you'll get more tensile loading.

It doesn't matter; it will have both tension and compressive forces on members.
Use West Point Bridge Designer to figure out which members have the highest compression and compression and design those as the biggest since they will need the strength.

If there are no restraints as to the # of supports beneath the deck, then I'd use that loophole to my advantage and just place a ton of supports beneath.

The mass of the bridge is limited.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Martin

wood is much better in compression, so whatever truss you use to build it, put it on top the bridge.

it has to be on top, the rules state

"there is no maximum height"
"no portion of the bridge may extend below the top surface of the test support prior to testing"


the rule i am most concerned about is

"the bottom surface of the loading block must be between 7.5 cm and 10 cm above the top surface of the test supports when place on the load point."

so the weight will be hanging from near the bottom of the bridge, not the top

it says they can use dowels, i would think that would make joints harder to connect, but would there be other advantages to using dowels?