Week 8 - Analysis Process

The Method of joints is a nice approach to calculating the force load of the bridge. However, this method wouldn’t be sufficient for constructing a bridge in the real world. In a real world, there are many other forces that need to be considered such as the load of the bridge itself.  Method of joints mainly focuses on the forces going vertical, but in real world there are horizontal forces that impact the tension and compression of the members in a bridge design. Some of the other forces that can impact a real bridge would be the wind, location, weather and natural disasters like earthquakes. I would like to learn more about the each connectors and how the strength increases with more members get attached to it. I would also be really interested in learning about software like Bridge Designer that makes calculations more convenient.  

During the previous week in class, we discussed the new set of constraints for our K’NEX bridge. The Bridge is required to span 36 inches with a minimum width of 3.5 inches. Along with that the bridge must be a tube for the vehicles to drive across the bridge. Majority of the class focused on learning the proper method drawing free body diagrams, as well as calculating the forces using the method of joints. Method of joints can be used to calculate the tension and compression in the membranes involved in the bridge design. Using the calculated values, we can improve the design of our bridge. This week in lab, we will be conducting more truss analysis and finishing up the final design of the bridge.