As I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest differences between West Point Bridge Designer and Knex testing is that the Knex bridge construction does not provide us with exact calculations of weight and tension like WPBD does. When testing with Knex, I would like to know the exact areas of our bridge where weight and tension are highest. Knowing this would help us make necessary adjustments to the bridge to further increase the amount of weight it can hold. Calculating these on the Knex bridge would be very difficult. However, I was able to determine where the bridge gave out when it reached it's weight limit and collapsed. I recorded our test trial and by viewing the video in slow motion, it is clear to see that the bridge gave out on the left side, right where the lower support truss section ends. In order to correct this, we could add more supports in that area but at this point we are focusing mainly on lowering cost and removing unnecessary pieces instead of increasing strength. We have some ideas on how to lower cost and I look forward to continuing the testing in lab this week.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Week 7 Blog Post
Last week in lab, we were able to officially test our bridge and make any desired changes. After making a few last minute changes to the bridge to cut down on cost and make the bridge slightly longer, we tested the amount of weight our bridge was able to support. We tested this by placing the bridge between two sawhorses and hanging a bucket from the center of the bridge. Sand was then slowly and continuously added to the bucket to add weight. The maximum weight our bridge was able to support was 39.4 lbs. I'm very happy with this result but I would like to significantly cut down on cost to bring down our cost to weight ratio.
As I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest differences between West Point Bridge Designer and Knex testing is that the Knex bridge construction does not provide us with exact calculations of weight and tension like WPBD does. When testing with Knex, I would like to know the exact areas of our bridge where weight and tension are highest. Knowing this would help us make necessary adjustments to the bridge to further increase the amount of weight it can hold. Calculating these on the Knex bridge would be very difficult. However, I was able to determine where the bridge gave out when it reached it's weight limit and collapsed. I recorded our test trial and by viewing the video in slow motion, it is clear to see that the bridge gave out on the left side, right where the lower support truss section ends. In order to correct this, we could add more supports in that area but at this point we are focusing mainly on lowering cost and removing unnecessary pieces instead of increasing strength. We have some ideas on how to lower cost and I look forward to continuing the testing in lab this week.
As I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest differences between West Point Bridge Designer and Knex testing is that the Knex bridge construction does not provide us with exact calculations of weight and tension like WPBD does. When testing with Knex, I would like to know the exact areas of our bridge where weight and tension are highest. Knowing this would help us make necessary adjustments to the bridge to further increase the amount of weight it can hold. Calculating these on the Knex bridge would be very difficult. However, I was able to determine where the bridge gave out when it reached it's weight limit and collapsed. I recorded our test trial and by viewing the video in slow motion, it is clear to see that the bridge gave out on the left side, right where the lower support truss section ends. In order to correct this, we could add more supports in that area but at this point we are focusing mainly on lowering cost and removing unnecessary pieces instead of increasing strength. We have some ideas on how to lower cost and I look forward to continuing the testing in lab this week.
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