About the project
All around the world, earthquakes are constantly occurring, causing damage and deaths. They can severely impact a city and leave it completely wrecked. They can also cause damage to lots of people and animals. Earthquakes are caused by the movement of tectonic plates. It occurs when tension builds up from the movement of tectonic plates and there is a sudden break and there is rapid motion along the fault. We were tasked to create an earthquake-proof model building out of blue tack and spaghetti that would be tested in a fake earthquake scenario. The build would be placed on a shake table and it would have to withstand up and down and side-to-side movements. The task was in groups of 4 and it required us to research various types of design features that are used in the real world that we could add to our design. The aim of the build was for it to be able to survive 10 seconds on the shake table. With a budget limitation, it also requires us to use budgeting and mathematic skills to accurately design and calculate the right amount of materials. There were also some building conditions, like a 60cm minimum height and 30x30cm maximum base.
Engineering Process
The project started with a 55-minute design sprint to test our building and design skills without any research or specific building techniques. We had no budget so we were able to build freely with no conditions. Our first build flopped badly. We had no coordination between our group and no design elements that could actually strengthen our build. We were very wasteful with our materials as a lot of it was snapped. Our next task was to research different design features that are used in real life by engineers that we could add to our build. We found a variety of different methods but we decided on a pendulum and adding triangles into our design because they are the strongest shape. Our next step was to use maths to figure out our budget. We had to design a build that would fit the criteria and also not use too many materials. Our next step was to finalize a design, through many diagram drafts. We had to add and change our design. Our final step was to build it. We faced many challenges like accidentally breaking our build, and it collapsing between classes. Once we had finally finished, it managed to last 5 seconds on the shake table. If I was to do this again, I would add a pyramid-shaped base to our design because it is a lot sturdier.
