WEEK 2

Vertical Structures
This week the  goal was to create structures that would have to act as a base and withstand a vertical  load, because of this our structures we more layer focused , bottom heavy and upright  as to be able to withstand the downward force rather then stretched out like last  weeks structures.

STRUCTURE ONE

 

Materials used :
- Rubber bands
- Satay sticks.
Structure:
 the structure consists of numerous  beams constructed out of 5 satay sticks, bundled and tied together with rubber bands and then  layered on top of each other end to end in the shape of square.  Two diagonal satay beams intersect the middle of the structure. The goal was to to have the weight of the paper stacks spread evenly  through the structure and down towards the ground so as to not focus to much weight in a single area.

Testing:
We loaded 5 stacks of paper onto the structure (12.5 kg) and applied downward force ourselves  but because of the size and flexibility of the sticks it didn't really seem to fail because being  a grounded structure so close to the ground and having the weight evenly distributed,  the force wasn't  strong enough force to physically crack any of the sticks let alone cause the structure to fail.

STRUCTURE TWO

MATERIALS :
- Satay sticks
- Hot glue
Structure:
This structure was basically a reverse of the last one. Its a layered structure except now it is in the shape of a diamond and it intersects in the middle at right angles in stead of 45 degrees. Also the use of hot glue instead of rubber bands to secure it

Testing:
Had basically the same outcome as the first although we used 10 stacks of paper this time (25kg) but the structure did not fail.

STRUCTURE THREE

Materials:
-Paper
Structure:
Like last week in terms of construction the third structure differed greatly from the other two since we were limited to just paper. to create this structure paper was folded into a zig- zag shape acting as a support truss. To give the overall structure strength numerous pieces of paper were folded in on each other so there plenty of triangular support then to keep it all sturdy a large piece encased them all

Testing:
the structure was able to withstand 6 stacks of paper (15kg) as well as a student standing atop of it (roughly 65 -70kg) because of the nature of the structure we didn't really expect it to fail since it was such a solid mass and we were right since  the structure only seemed to compress on itself and not spill out everywhere.