My latest construction project

Started by poppy, March 26, 2011, 02:20:58 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

poppy

Well it's not exactly a house related build, but my granddaughter asked me to help with her senior physics project of building an 8" tower out of no more than 12 grams of balsa wood that could take a 60lb load.

Here she is (the first born grandchild who named me Poppy) with the first tower along with the rig that I built to test design theories.  As it turned out, that first tower didn't meet dimensional limitations, so a second tower had to be built.




Here is the second tower along with her partner.  The tower weighed in at 12.1 grams and the teacher put it in the microwave oven to shed .2 grams.




Here is the school test rig with a twist (pun intended).  The hanging weight is pulled back and released to produce a torque shock load after the vertical load is held.  That made bracing very important indeed.




And here is the tower successfully taking the 60 lbs.  It actually supported 150 lbs. before the torque test made it fail.  Poppy's team placed in the top 10% of the class.  About a 4th of the towers didn't even take the 60 lbs.



Just like in post/pier construction, taking the vertical load is easy; it's all about the bracing.

muldoon

Thats what it is all about Poppy.  Cool project and neat story. 


John Raabe

Great project. This is a practical and fun application of ideas - and gives ideas far more sticking power.
None of us are as smart as all of us.

Don_P

I'll bet that was fun. I enjoy playing with design concepts by making stick models. Not as hi tech though, I usually stand on mine. Sometimes I find I've just stepped on them  :D

Woodsrule

Poppy, you should be proud of your granddaughter. She looks really happy in the picture; a kid who enjoys school is a testament to her parents and grandparents [cool]