Introduction
Earthquakes are a destructive force of nature that wreaks havoc among places that are on the borders of 2 tectonic plates. Examples of these places are Nepal, Japan, and California. They destroy buildings, cars, roads, entire cities and kill people.
As seen in this picture of earthquakes from 1900-2017, the circled places are California, Nepal, and Japan. This shows where earthquakes are most frequent, the reason for these earthquakes is because they’re on the edges of 2 adjacent tectonic plates. To combat these natural disasters people have designed and tested different earthquake-proof structures with different methods of repelling the disaster. These methods included cross-bracing, weighted bases, springs, and the shape of the building. In the 3.4 Engineering Challenge on STILE, I have been given the task of making an earthquake-proof structure out of spaghetti and blu-tack/plasticine with a limited amount of resources. The structure has to be 60cm tall minimum and a maximum base of 30cm by 30cm.
Our Team
In our group of 4, there was me, Royce Li, Shray Patel, and Thenuk Wijemanne. We decided among ourselves on what roles we should do based on our strengths and weaknesses.
I and Shray were the key designers and researched and came up with concept sketches for what different designs our structure could be based on the restraints. As the more creative half of the group we decided to choose varying shapes, sizes, and dimensions to make it earthquake-proof, as cheap as possible, and easy to build. I and Shray took up this task because I think that my strength is designing a structure that would be appealing and efficient in withstanding an earthquake.
Royce was the builder and calculator. His strengths are mathematics and building the structure. He calculated how much it would cost for each of our designs, whether the ratios for blu-tack to spaghetti was enough and if the design would be easy to build. He also helped me and Shray draw in sketches with dimensions to help us visualize and envision the final product.
Thenuk was the person that would check whether it was really earthquake-proof as his strength is seeing flaws in a design that we couldn’t. He would proof check our designs and would test the strength of a structure by shaking and banging it before we tested it with Mr. Goor.
We made sure everyone had their opinion valued, said, and for no one to be excluded from group decisions or ideas. We heard everyone equally and listened with heart. We also gave each other constructive criticism as it would both improve our teamwork, design, and the person’s idea overall.
During this stage in the project, we researched the internet on how real-life earthquake-proof structures held up gainst earthquakes and what was it that really made it earthquake-proof. We found out that cross-bracing, heavier bases, base isolation, and that blu-tack would act as a dampener (energy distributor). We also learned that the building should be able to move with the earthquake in order for the structure to stay upright.
Researching
Designing
A group discussion was held on what types of designs, methods, and shapes we could use for our project. Many designs were created, sketched on, improved on, discarded, and finalized. One of my designs that was almost sure to be earthquake-proof was a pyramid with cross bracing, dampeners, and implementing our knowledge of structures into the build. This included that the bottom should be heavier than the top, using squares and triangles. My design was rejected however because of the budget and height restraints.
Another design was from Shray where he implemented a dome structure as it’s one of the most earthquake-proof building types. This design was also rejected however as it was too big and expensive.
Our final design was from Royce and was improved upon by everyone. It featured a box structure in the middle and supports coming out to form a pyramid. It met all requirements and was a cost-efficient structure.
Creating
We built our structure with time and effort. We precisely measured and snapped spaghetti off and blu-tacked it with elegance and grace as to not disrupt the base structure of the model. We managed to build it with a few casualties of snapped spaghetti. Besides that our build was successful with no real problems or issues.
Testing
When testing our model it faced the fearsome earthquake simulator machine. When placed on the machine the machine shook our structure side to side, back and forth, and up and down. The side-to-side action simulated the primary and secondary shocks from the earthquake. The up and down simulated the surface waves.
For the first time, our build had suffered from one of the spaghettis being dislodged from the blu-tack.
For our second attempt, we replaced the regular cross bracing with isosceles triangles for added support and it freed up more budget for blu-tack. This was needed because it fixed the flaws without previous design and made it so it had a sturdier base than before.
As seen in the video our new design was a humongous success as it not only didn’t break when tested but it also survived even when the machine was broken from the excessive force from Mr. Goor!
Summary
My team and I benefitted positively from this task because I think it taught us teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, and engineering skills.
The reason that our build survived for so long and broke the machine was because of a sturdy base stuck to the board with enough flexibility and weight to move with the movements of the board or the “earthquake”. The strength of the triangles held up the base and allowed it to move with the board, the overall pyramid shape made it so that the structure wouldn’t tip over either due to its naturally balanced base. A sturdy base, low center of gravity, and flexibility were decisive in making it effective in side to side, back and forth, and up and down tests.
Our building was within budget and we had already reduced the price from trial 1. Our build time in total was around 15 minutes to set up and 5 mins to check and secure all joints.
Ways to improve: I think that some changes we could’ve made would be to make our building more cost-efficient and relatively cheap as it had no other outlying problems. I also think that we could’ve researched together as a team more and offered constructive criticism to people in a nice and supporting manner. I also feel that we should’ve given more designs a chance as most were shot down in the first 5 minutes they were presented.
Without Restrictions: If I was given this project without constraints I would’ve made an isometric dome or my cross-bracing because without the cost or base restrictions I think that those designs would both be earthquake-proof but also a new and nice designs.
Teamwork: In my opinion, our teamwork was excellent and had no real arguments besides the designing stage when a few people and conflicting ideas about the project ideas and how to execute them. Despite this roadblock, I think we supported each other well and gave each other a boost when needed. During this project, I feel that we learned a lot about teamwork and how it affects us both as a group and our own personal growth.
For example, for a few lessons, Shray wasn’t here. We needed to get a move on with the STILE activities and without Shray we pressed on due to time restraints. As soon as Shray got back we filled him in and helped him with any questions he had with STILE. We made sure to not make any big group decisions without consulting Shray for his opinion and thoughts when he wasn’t here and we made sure everyone was included and heard in group decisions.
Another example is when building the project all 3 of us (Thenuk, Shray, and I), were helping Royce with either buying more equipment, holding the structure, giving our cheers, or supporting our hardworking teammate. This displayed our teamwork as it showed how we were supportive and considerate with each other’s part of the project that we handled.
Conclusion: Doing this assignment made me grow as a teammate, leader but also in my science skills. I also learned how it would be like to be an architect and how engineers in countries like Japan have to think in order to keep the building intact when earthquakes are frequent. I truly enjoyed doing this assignment and would love to keep working with my team on future projects.
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