Week 6

In last week's lab we used the time to each build a bridge for the competition. We were able to do a preliminary test of our bridges on the sawhorses. We used the information gathered from these tests to decide which bridge will be used as our group's bridge.
     In the upcoming lab our group will fully and properly test the bridge design which we have chosen. We hope that the bridge will meet our expectations of not failing until a considerable amount of weight is loaded into the bucket. We will record the information gathered when testing, which includes how much weight was added until the failure, the cost of our bridge, and the location of the failure.
     Major accomplishments of the week include having our bridge fail the preliminary test only because the sawhorses move. Other accomplishments include the successful design that incorporates an arch aspect into a truss design.
     Issues that may occur is that the bridge does not sit properly on the sawhorses if they are changed from the previous week. The gusset plates may be the weakest links because the way the are interlinked together to give the necessary angles for the bridge beams.
     My views haven't changed about Knex since last week. The difference between working with steel and Knex is that steel is able to give more than Knex pieces. Steel also is probably able to hold far more weight compared to how big it is compared to the same ratio for the Knex, but this is necessary for the loads the steel will be holding; this makes it so less steel will be used than the Knex counterpart. The steel can also be shaped into an shape needed for construction.

Robert Weldon - Group 10