Aim:

The aim of our project was to design and build a structure that will be able to withstand an earthquake. Although we had limitations to the materials we were allowed to use. The structure had to be made of spaghetti and blue tac. We had a budget of $60 and each gram of blue tac was $1 and 10cm of spaghetti was also worth $1. To represent the earthquake, we used a shake table. As this project was in group we needed to use our capabilities to make the process effective and efficient.

Research

In order to start planning we needed to research the designs engineers have already came up with. We found that bracing was very effective and would be easy for us to incorporate in our first design. We also found that building which sway are more effective for withstanding earthquakes than building which just stand still. The reason for this is because the building which just stand still have no where for the incoming force to move to, hence the force moves into the centre of the building making it collapse.

Our challenges

Our biggest challenge was our budget. Adding the bracing to each side increase our budget immensely. So we needed to use problem solving and communication to help us create a new design. My group and I, sat down and thought of new ways to improve our design so it fit to the budget.

Our other challenge was the process of building the structure itself, during the create process we managed to snap lots of spaghetti, to overcome this we reduced the width of our structure slightly so we managed to make a stable structure with the resources we had.

First Prototype

As we where unable to add vertical cross bracing (x-bracing) to every side of our structure, we resulted to adding horizontal x bracing, along the floor and the top. However through this process we found out that having this horizontal bracing put more pressure on the vertical components of the structure making it bend and collapse to one side. As we couldn’t buy more spaghetti to add some support for the vertical components, my group decided to take away the horizontal bracing from the top and the bottom. so we where able to add some diagonal bracing to help support the vertical beams. When it came to the shake table our structure was very successful and didn’t have any significant damage at all. Because of the diagonal bracing (shown in the picture) the vertical components of the structure were very stable. The main reason for the tall beam in the centre at the top was initially to reach the height criteria. Although, during the shake test we found out that the beam allowed for a swaying motion, reducing the amount of force and pressure to build up on the vertical components of the building. Overall our first design was a huge success and

Second Prototype

For our second initial design, the criteria changed. The structure only had to be 30cm tall and needed a platform at the top for a Lego man to stand on, to represent a real building. When creating our new design, we decided to keep our first design as it didn’t undergo any damage. To create the platform for the Lego man, we needed to think of an idea to make a stable area for a piece of paper to lie. As we were keeping our initial design, and had used our entire budget we couldn’t buy more spaghetti. We used problem solving to create our second prototype. As the height minimum had changed, we could decrease the height of the vertical beam at the top. Doing so made the structure 40cm in height and gave us an extra piece of spaghetti to work with, with this spaghetti we added the horizontal x brace at the top. As we needed two pieces of of spaghetti to make the cross brace, our group decided to trade in 2.5 grams of spaghetti in exchange for another 25cm piece of spaghetti, allowing us to create the horizontal x brace enabling us to cut out a piece of paper and blue tac it to the platform, so the Lego Man could stand.

Reflection

My group worked very well on each process of this task, we used the capabilities collaboration(teamwork), effective communication, problem solving, being inquisitive and being organised to help us design and create a effective structure that would be able to withstand an earthquake while also meeting the criteria of the project. The ways in which we used all the capabilities are, during the research process I was very keen on learning and finding out ways that this problem had been tackled before by past engineers. Being inquisitive enabled for a detailed research document, allowing the group to easily find the best ways to tackle the challenge ourselves. During the design process we used communication and collaboration to gather ideas and used problem solving to tackle the problems which came to hand. Furthermore our organisation skills allowed enough great time management, creating a less stress and easier process. Overall, my group was able to successfully design and create a building out of pasta and blue tac that was able to withstand an earthquake.