The Mission
In science class, we were challenged to act like civil engineers and design a tower that could survive a massive earthquake on our classroom shake table!
Our building had to meet these strict rules:
Be at least 30 cm tall.
Only use our limited supply of skewers, and connectors.
Our plan of the tower tower standing tall.
The Science Behind the Build: Elasticity vs. Plasticity
Before we started building, we had to learn how materials respond to forces so we could choose the right ones for our structure:
Elasticity is when you’re able to stretch and return to normal. For example when you pull a rubber band, it gets long. But once you let it go, it returns back to its original state.
In our building, we used wooden skewers for elasticity because we guaranteed it’s better to use when there’s an earthquake.
Plasticity is a thing that can stretch but it won’t go back to its original shape. It’s like when you’re squishing bread dough and chewing bubblegum.
In our building, we used hard plastic connectors for plasticity because it was to connect the skewers together.
Our Design & Strategy
When drawing our plan, my group decided to use triangles and squares for our frame because they can’t change their shape without it breaking. Also if you push any side of a triangle, the other two sides will work together to push it back.
Here is how we put our tower together:
- The Base: Firstly we made a square on each side. Then we made a triangle on the top of it and placed a flag with my group’s names initials.
- The Dampers/Joints: We connected the connectors and skewers together.
The Shake Table Test!
It was time for the ultimate test! We placed our tower onto the shake table and held our breath, then the incredible happened. Although our flag fell, the whole tower was still standing still.
Magnitude 7 Test (Violent Shaking): There was so much shaking, so I was pretty surprised that it survived.
Testing our structure under extreme shaking!
Evaluation and Analysis
Our structure survived during the shake table assessment.
Key Observations:
- Strengths: The following design elements were particularly effective in maintaining stability: The triangle that we did with the connectors and skewers was an absolute success.
- Areas for Improvement: Our structure experienced a plastic failure when our paper flag fell down.
- Iterative Design: If given the opportunity to refine our design, I would modify it to make the whole tower triangle to enhance the structural integrity.
Join the Conversation
What are your thoughts on our engineering approach? Have you personally experienced an earthquake in New Zealand? We invite you to share your insights or experiences in the comments below.
My thoughts on our engineering approach was really a good and fun thing to do. I personally haven’t experienced an earthquake in New Zealand.