Earth-quake Engineering Challenge

In short, the project was that we got assigned groups of two other people and had to make a structure that could survive a simulated earthquake. We had to do research and work together to make a structure out of spaghetti and blu tack that was 60 cm tall, could hold a 5,5,5 cm square at the top, and was under the “budget” of $60 if every gram of blu tack costs $1 and so did every piece of 25cm spaghetti. We had about four lessons to plan and do the math for how much we would have to spend and how we would build it. We worked out roles. I was selected to be a “master builder” which I took to mean I would build the most which I was happy with. Aryan got treasurer which meant he bought the things and made sure we were under budget and Ethan did the math. I suggested the idea that we build it in layers to make it easier to fix and experiment as we progressed, which they agreed to. We each shared ideas and conducted research until we had a design we were happy with it. We decided on cross-beaming because in the real world people use that and it works tremendously

When the lesson started, Aryan immediately started buying the stuff we needed and then he and Ethan put the base down. Next, Ethan and I started work on the middle layer whilst Aryan measured and cut pieces for later. After we built the basic shape, Ethan held the pieces in place while Aryan and I started work on installing the double crossbeams. When that was complete, we set it on top of more spaghetti and attached that to the base. Aryan held it up whilst Ethan and I started work on the cross-beaming then the top. We built the platform first, and then put the spaghetti under it and cross-beamed that. Before we cross-beamed it, Ethan double-checked the math and found we had accidentally cut too many spaghetti pieces so Aryan went to buy more, but, we were under budget. Ethan and Aryan are taller than me, so I held our structure whilst they cross-beamed it. We decided to only do one crossbeam for the top because it was already stable. As seen in the video, the building survived the p and s waves, but fell to the surface waves.

My suggestions for change include; use of better materials or stronger cross-beaming. Cross-beaming was our initial preferred solution as used in Japan, which is effective because it holds the walls at a certain distance so they don’t collapse in or out. Many other recommendations were not avoidable because we didn’t have access to hydraulics or stronger building materials.

video:https://allsaintswaedu-my.sharepoint.com/personal/l25youne_allsaints_wa_edu_au/_layouts/15/stream.aspx?id=/personal/l25youne_allsaints_wa_edu_au/Documents/ASC+Pictures/Camera+Roll/Building+video.mp4&wdLOR=c0BD4A6EC-9524-4650-AA1F-16899B085630&ct=1667961660707&or=Outlook-Body&cid=55B5D6B4-EACC-40F2-A4EF-734730298150&ga=1&sw=auth

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