Test and Evaluate
As we went through many tests and many versions of our towers, we continued to improve and repair in hopes that our tower would become strong enough. We tested our tower’s strength using a shakable platform that would simulate p-waves and s-waves in order to get the most realistic test possible. We filmed and recorded most of our tests, as well as the breaks and the strengths of it. we found that our tower was the strongest when our height was below 60, but the more height we added the weaker it became and it began to tilt to the side. It was obvious that our tower could not handle the requirements we built it to, and ended up being weak.
This is a video of us simulating p-waves, which are waves that are fast and shaky. These did not cause damage to the build
These are the s-waves, which are move side to side. This did not cause damage to our build
This is a video of a more updated version of the tower unfortunately breaking, as the blue tack at the base was not strong enough.
In our final test, we found that our tower withstood more than 5 seconds of p-waves and s-waves, but unfortunately Nicole shook it to much and the base broke. A few of our spaghetti sticks snapped and it fell over. This was most likely due to the weight distribution being off, as well as weak support and too much pressure. I think the s waves were the ones that ended up breaking the tower, and i also believe i was due to the base, as our middle and top half were quite strong. While in the video the top part seemed loose and weak, I think its flexibility gave it the strength to stay together, I just think our base became weak from the shaking but also due to the amount of weight being on it for multiple weeks. While I did have some hope for our tower, I wasn’t surprised that it broke, as we were even scared to move it off of the work bench, It lasted longer than i thought but I was hoping for better. I was surprised at how well the top part stuck together, as that was the part I was most worried for. Overall the performance of our tower was pretty strong for the most part, I just believe it needed a few more adjustments before we did our final run.