Structural Engineering
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Structures surround us! They are everywhere in nature and human built structures make up items we experience every day. During this unit you will learn about forces enacted on upon on structures and different types of bridges. You will also be designing your own structure.
Standards: STEM-FET-6: Apply fundamental principles of the engineering design process. STEM-FET-8: Students design a solution to an engineering problem applying math and science principles STEM-FET-9: Demonstrate the application of STEM in the real world. Target Outcomes:
Key Terms: Structure Forces Compression Tension Torsion Shear Tensile Strength Bridge Types Span Beam Pier Load Cantilever Truss |
Lesson Outline:
Day 1
Presentations
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Design Brief
Materials –
- 20 feet of 3/16 x 3/16 balsa wood (each strip of wood is 2 feet) -
- Glue – wood glue or you can bring in your own super glue
- Span – 12 inches
- Height – 2 inches
- Width – 3 1/4 inches
- Must have a 1 x 1 inch hole in the center of the roadbed.
- Must be a truss bridge design. The truss can be at the top of bottom.
- No more than 2 laminations – pieces of wood going the same direction. Lamination refers to the combining of two or more pieces of material with the grain running in the same direction.
- Draw a top view and side view of your structure to scale (exact size) on the large sheets of paper.
- Include all measurements for your truss including the angles for each of your triangular structures. Remember you can calculate this using the Pythagorean Theorem.
- Add all of your materials together – how much do you need?
- Use the math formula about beams and joints to determine if your structure will work (show your calculations). Will your structure work?
