TRACMichiganDesignandBuildBridgeChallenge TeamAwesomePonies BrandonHighSchool PeterJonsson TylerBaker JacksonBabb Mr.Spiece Mrs.Logan Mrs.

Hildebrand

TableofContents
Summary3 Introduction4 Body56 Conclusion7 Acknowledgements8 Bibliography9 Appendices1012

Summary
Thechallengewastobuildadrawbridgethathadthebeststrengthtoweightratio,notjusthow muchitcanhold.First,wehadtodoresearchonthesubjecttofinddesignsthatwouldworkanddo thebestforthejob.Afterwefoundadesignthatworkedwell,wetesteditonsoftware,called ModelSmartv1.72,thatmeasuredstrengthandweightofthedesign.ThisDesignandBuildBridge ChallengealsohaduslearnhowtousetheBentleyMicroStationPowerDraftV8ieditionCAD software.ThischallengealsoteachesushowtocreateaprofessionalPowerPointpresentation,shown andexplainedbyustoapanelofhighlevelengineers.Thisprojectletsstudentsseewhatitisliketobe anengineerandspecificallyacivilengineer.Theprojectisrealisticandimportantconsideringthe currentstateofourbridges.Thisprojectisintroducingusetopossiblecareersindesignand engineering.Wewillbeapplyingconceptsfrommathandsciencetocomeupwiththebestdesign. WedecidedtomakeasimpleKTrusswithtwotowersontheend.ThereasonfortheKTruss wasthatinModelSmart,onesideofthetrussheld24.193lbsandweighedonly3.742grams.Theends ofthetrussareinsidethetowers,whichare10inchestall.Earlyon,wedecidedthatthebridgewould bestructurallyunstablewithbalsawoodifitweretoseparateinthemiddleofthetruss.Unfortunately, thetowersaddweightwithoutaddingmuchstructuralsupport.WehavealsodecidedtousePopsicle stickIbeamsinreplacementofthebridgedeck.Wealsodecidedtohaveaweightdisplacement systemunderthebridgetouchingthetesterpadonthePitscodi2000StructureTester.Hopefullythis

designwillyieldidealresultsinthecompetition.

Introduction
WearetheteamAwesomePoniesandourmembersarePeterJonsson,TylerBaker,and JacksonBabb.WeareallintheSTEMPathwaysAcademyatBrandonHighSchool,BrandonSchool District.BrandonHighSchoolhasabout300studentsperclass,andabout100studentsintheacademy asawhole.BrandonSchoolDistrictcoversallofBrandonTownship,centeredaroundatowncalled Ortonville. JacksonBabbisaSophomoreatBrandonHighSchool.HeisenrolledintheSophomore STEMPathwaysAcademy,APUnitedStatesGovernmentandPolitics,andPreCalculus.Thisyear washisfirstyearonFIRSTRoboticsTeam68,TruckTownThunder,asaprogrammer.Jackson enrolledintheMichiganDesignandBuildBridgeChallengelastyearbutdidnotmakeittothestate competition. PeterJonssonisaFreshmenstudentatBrandonHighSchoolandisinhisfirstyearofthe STEMPathwaysAcademy.ThisishisfirstyearontheBrandonSwimandDiveTeam. TylerBakerisaFreshmeninBrandonHighSchool,andisintheFreshmenBrandonSTEM PathwaysAcademy.Athome,Tylerdoesblacksmithingandwelding.

Body
Fortheprojectwe decidedtomakeaktruss. Thisdesignwasourfinal choicebecausewhenaload isplacedonit,itendures moretensionthan compression.Accordingto research,balsawoodis strongerundertension.Thispictureshowsthestresslevelsonthetrusswhentheloadisapplied. Compressionandtensionareimportant scientificprinciplestoconsider.Itisimportant becauseanymaterialwillhavedifferent reactionstoeach.Anotherimportantprinciple isstrengthtoweightratio.Theprototypethat ourgroupmadeheld64poundsandweighed 43grams.43gramsis0.0947987727 pounds,andtogetthestrengthtoweightratio,dividestrengthbyweighttogetourstrengthtoweight

ratioof675.114225.Sinceitispoundsoverpounds,therearenounits. Thisisagraphthatshowsthebalsawoodsreactionunderpressure. Indesigningthebridgethemainchallengewehadwasfiguringouthowtoraisethebridge.We didn'twanttosplitthebridgeinhalfandraiseeachsideseparatelybecausethatdecreasesthestructural strengthofthedrawbridge.Intheendwemadethewholebridgeraiseupandnotsplitintwo.We alsobuiltthetowerslowbecausetheydon'taddalotofstrengthtothebridgesothere'snoneedto makethemtallerandaddunnecessaryweight.Anotherdesignchallengewasdesigningtheroaddeck tomakeitstrongenoughtoholdthetwotrussestogether,becausewefoundthathowtheroaddeck connectsthetrussesistheweakestpointinthe bridge.Whendesigningthebridge,determining thedimensionswaschallenging,becausethey havetoholdthemostweightwiththelittle amountofmaterials. Thisisanimageofourpreliminary bridgedesignintheBentleypowerdraft software.Itincludesthetop,side,andend viewofthebridgeandthetowerswithallofthe dimensions,includingthetrussdesignandthe supporttowers. WetestedourdesignwiththePitscodi2000structuretester.Thistestledustoredesignthe

bridgedeckbecauseitwastheweakestpointinthebridge.WereplacedthestructurewithIbeams. Whenbuildingthebridge,itwasdifficulttomakethebridgesymmetricalbecausethebalsawoodwas notprecise,thismeantthatwhengluingthewoodwetookourtimesoitwouldberightthefirsttime.

Conclusion
Whenwetestedourprototype,itwasoneofthemoresuccessfulbridges.Ourbridgeheldthe mostweightwhilehavingasimpledesigntoit.Whilebuildingthebridgeduringthischallengewelearn multiplelifeskillssuchasteamworkandengineeringprinciples.Havingtoworkandagreewith everyoneinthegroupwasachallengewhencomingupwiththedesign,thisbuiltuponourteamwork. Whiledesigningthebridgewelearnedaboutengineeringprinciples,suchascompressionandtension.

Acknowledgements
OurinstructorswereMr.Spiece,Mrs.Logan,andMrs.Hildebrand.Mr.Spieceisourtechnology teacherandhelpeduswithanyofourquestionsduringthiscompetition.Mrs.Logan,ourmathteacher, provideduswiththeknowledgetounderstandthestructuraldesignofthebridgewiththeanglesand lengthsofthebalsawood.Ourphysicsteacher,Mrs.Hildebrand,providedinformationonbridgesand taughtusonkeyprinciplesthatweusedinourbridgedesign. Weherebycertifythatthemajorityoftheideas,design,andworkwasoriginatedand performedbythestudents,withlimitedassistancebyadults,asdescribedabove. StudentSignatures X___________________________________ X___________________________________ X___________________________________ Instructors X___________________________________ X___________________________________ X___________________________________

Bibliography
http://pghbridges.com/basics.htm http://www.scienceprojects.com/bridges/bridgebulsa.htm http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/schoolzone/info_structures.cfm http://www.garrettsbridges.com/design/trussdesign/ http://www.garrettsbridges.com/photos/scienceolympiadbridge/

Appendices
Timeline Forthefirstweekwedecidedwewouldseewhattheproblemissothatwecouldfixit.For thesecondweekwedecideditwasagoodideatoresearchbridgetypessothatwecouldgetabetter understandingonhowbridgeslookandwork.Forthethirdweekwelookedatthedatawecollected fromtheInternetandbrainstormedonhowourbridgewouldworkandlook.Onthefourthweekwe chosethebesttrussdesignandstartedprototypingit.Onweekthebeginningofweekfivewetested ourbridgeandithelduptoalotofpressurelaterweworkedonthereportportfolioandstartedour finalbridge.Onthesixthweekweputallofourmindstogethertoreallyworkhardonfinalizingthe bridgeandtheproposal. DailyJournal day1. welookedatthematerialsthatwehadtoworkwiththebridgeon day2. westartedfindingoutproblemsandthoughtofsolutionstotheproblemswecreatedinour minds day3. wecontinuedfindingoutproblemsandsolutions

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day4. wekeptthinkingofnewproblemsandfixingthem day5. lastdayofproblemsolving day6. weresearchedbridgesthatworkinreallifesothatourbridgewillholdup day7. weresearchedagainandstartedplanningwhatourbridgewouldlooklikewiththeinformation wefound day8. westartedthepowerdrafttutorials day9. wecontinuedthetutorialstolearnhowpowerdraftworks day10.wefinishedupthepowerdrafttutorialsafterlearningthefundamentalsofhowtheprogram works day11.weallgottogetherandstartedbrainstormingourdesign day12.wefinishedbrainstorming day13.welookedatalltheideasfromthebrainstormingandfoundoutthebestdesignofthemall day14.westarteddrawingtheprototypeofthebridge day15.wecontinueddrawingtheprototypeofthebridge day16.westartedcraftingtheprototypeofthebridge day17.wecontinuedcraftingtheprototype day18.theprototypingisalmostdonesoweworkedonit day19.wefinishedtheprototypingandtestedthebridgewhichheld64pounds day20.westartedworkingonthereportportfolio day21.weworkedonthereportportfolioandstartedbuildingthefinalbridge

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day22.wesplitthegroupupformaximumperformanceinournumbereddaysleftinthecompetition day23.halfofusworkedonthefinalbridgeandtheotherhalfworkedontheproposal day24.weworkedonthefinalbridgeandtheproposalagain day25.continuedtobuildthebridgeandtheproposal day26.startedofftheweekbybuildingthebridgeandwritingtheproposal day27.keptdoingtheproposalandthefinalbridge day28.startedtofinishtheproposalandthebridge day29.weallrejoinedtogethertofinishtheproposal day30.weallfinishedtheproposal day31.weallfinishedthebridge

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