Week 5: Knex Process

In our week 5 lab we spent the whole class building and modifying a test bridge, looking for the strongest, yet most cost effective design. We tweaked and modified our design multiple times before we came to a design we are content with, and we are excited to test it. In our next week of lab we plan to break this bridge and then analyze what area of the design was first to fail. This will then allow us to better our design even further for the future.

There are definitely some major differences between designing a bridge with Knex compared to designing one with real bridge materials. A few of the biggest differences would be the cost of the materials obviously. Steel costs much more than plastic. Another difference between Knex and a real bridge is the ability to vary the length, size, and strength of the materials. While with the Knex pieces are set at a pre cut length, steel can be cut, bent, and modified to fit any design imaginable. One similarity between Knex and a real bridge is that the principles of truss bridge design stay close to the same, hence the reason we are using them in this course.