Week 7

     In the prior week our group tested the bridge that we thought would be most successful. This bridge had an arch design to it. We learned that the arch didn't help at all and in the next test wouldn't be allowed. We had another bridge already built and we able to test it even though we submitted the results for the first bridge. The second bridge was able to hold double the first.
     In the coming week my group hopes that we will be able to analyze the forces acting on the bridge and modify it in such a way that will redistribute the forces in such a way to give the bridge more structural strength. We are also going to see if we can cut costs anywhere without taking away from the structural integrity of the bridge.
     Major accomplishments of the week include the realization that an arch is useless in our design. We also discovered that our second design had a relatively high cost to weight ratio, this gives us hope that we can modify it to make it even better.
     Issues that may occur is that the bridge is already built to its highest strength and won't be able to be improved.
     Numbers I believe would be helpful for my bridge design process would be at what weight or force the gusset plates fail at. Knowing this may help my group to redesign our bridge with fewer gusset plates or more depending on the information we gain. It also be helpful to know how certain triangles break up the force acting on them and how they redistribute it across the bridge or themselves. I know that the force of gravity acting on the bridge is the most essential force that must be considered; the mass of the bridge and the bucket of sand is the necessary force to consider in F=mg. Knowing this you can break the forces up on the triangle and see how it redistributes them in the x and y directions.

Robert Weldon - Group 10