Project Overview:

For our final assessment in Science this year, we were in groups of 2-3 and asked to design and construct a earthquake-resistant building made out of dried spaghetti and blue tack. This tower had to meet the following criteria:

• minimum height of 60cm
• a platform on top to hold 1 or 2 weights
• go through a earthquake simulation test for 10seconds
• costs less than $60 to build as 1 piece of spaghetti is $1 and 1 gram of blue tack is $1

This project is very valuable because in todays society, earthquakes cause a lot of horrible damage and deaths across the world. Doing this project shows how we need to think of ways to earthquake proof buildings in countries where earthquakes are very common to stop the destruction and devastation. These significant earthquakes can cause horrendous damage and can even leave thousands or millions of people homeless as the damage done to buildings may be unfix-able. That’s why engineers and architects today are always trying to find new ways to improve the designs and structural integrity of buildings to maximise the safety of these buildings in case earthquakes do occur, as they are unpredictable.

Our goal for this project was to build a 60cm tall building with structural integrity strong enough to be able to withstand an earthquake, using triangles as our base shape to ensure maximum support. 

Engineering Process:

The first step in this process was to go through a design sprint. This involved us making random groups and having 50mins to create our very first building. We got $60 to spend on pasta and blue tack. My group used $50 on pasta and $10 on blue tack. This was a scary experience as we were in a rush to build it well, our first design of our building did survive the shake test except our building wasn’t 60cm tall. This was an opportunity to fix our design and try make it taller. Our main goal in this was to create height instead of stability.

The second part of the engineering process includes defining and research. In our research we found that the most effective ways of earthquake resistant buildings was to cross brace and use base isolation. With our supplies, cross bracing was the easiest and most cost effective option. Our building was specifically designed to be triangular because this would evenly distribute the weight and damage throughout the building. Cross bracing also distributed energy from the earthquake throughout the whole building. The brace walls had minimal shaking compared to non-cross-braced walls. This shows that the cross-braced walls boosted structural integrity a great deal when compared to a structure with non-cross braced wall. Our finished product was 60cm, was able to hold 2 weights on top of the building and didn’t fall down.

My Thoughts:

I think our group worked extremely well together and even though we all had our own roles we all collaborated and worked together. Our building withstood all earthquake simulations and even being tipped upside down. I think our building was extremely stable and secure especially after multiple tests.