Last week in class we
held our final test as every group tested their final design showing all they
have worked for these past few weeks and what was the most cost effective
design. Our bridge only held 17 pounds, which was a bit of a letdown as prior
testing showed that it was able to hold roughly around 30 pounds. As to why the
bridge preformed this way I am not sure, perhaps the bridge was not properly
constructed again after testing the night before, or perhaps it was just a
fluke, either way nothing we can do, that’s just how the bridge behaved. On the
bright side the bridge only cost $307,000 and was still decently cost
effective.
I felt that this project has been worthwhile and it definitely
helped be learn about the creative process of how a design evolves and grows
bases on experimentation and, trial and error, and observing failure and
individual components. My understanding of computer based programs to test designs
and components has vastly improved and understanding how this data can be interpreted
and used to make even small adjustments to the bridge that dramatically improve
the performance. The most worthwhile aspect was not the design process or the
computer and data skills but learning the smaller more complex mechanics that might
be over looked until you come across them. The perfect example being how the
weight capacity is determined by the gusset strength which is affected by
numerous factors such as the pressure exerted on the gusset member connection by
the adjacent connection and in real bridges the age, physical condition and the
welding of these connections, each a small detail but will drasticly affect the
connection and capacity.
The greatest benefit
for me was how the class was handled. The class was more relaxed, there was not
the stress of crunch time and you could test variable and design at your leisure,
you could put as much effort as you want and that help me with motivation. Not
feeling required and pressured from work made it feel less like more and more
of a pleasant hobby and made me more motivated to learn and try to do the best
not for a competitive achievement of placing high but for self achievement to
do my best and feel satisfied of the effort put into the project.
The two least
beneficial aspects for me were the method of joints project for A3 and the blog
posts. The method of joints was interesting and it was beneficial and I will
most likely have to use it in the future so it nice to start learning now but
it was tedious and felt somewhat pointless when there was an online program
that could do it for more complex bridge. The reason I did not like the blog
posts was because I found it easier and more clear and helpful when we used the
notebook last term to record our data and progress.
I don’t feel like there
is much need to improve for this section, it was clear, simple yet challenging,
and taught us the basic of bridge design and how and why they work and react as
they do. This section was exactly what it said it was going to be and what it
was going to teach us. The only thing is that I felt that this section was
handled and felt different than most of the other engineering 103 sections and I
agree with the idea that this class might be better if it were an alternative
choice the NXT module in engineering 102.
This week in class we
will be our last class and we will be wrapping up the term and the truss bridge
design project and just go over what we learned, the process, and how we felt
about the class.
- Kyle Hayes
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