Week 7: Analysis Process

This past week we have continued to work on our final knex bridge design, we have also been working to complete a truss analysis of a sample bridge and apply the same logic to our knex bridge to improve our design. In the coming week we will continue on the truss analysis and design of our knex bridge. This week we had no major accomplishes. The only issue that I see is related to post A3, I don’t believe that Bridge Designer will allow us to submit what Dr. Mitchell is asking of us.

I believe that the method of joints is sufficient for small scale or low load bridges such as foot bridges across a wet area. I do feel that while it provides good insight about what should be changed in a bridge design it does not take into account all of the forces acting upon the bridge. The method of joints should work great in a situation where effects related to nature are negligible; wind is a major factor in bridge design. The bridge needs to not only stop the wind from pushing it over but it also needs to be able to support the load of cars while wind is acting upon the bridge.

I would like to analyze how a bridge preforms over time with an increasing load on the bridge. The load of the bridge changes each time the bridge is repainted or the bridge deck is surfaced, the load also changes as the vehicles we drive change. A bridge does no good if it only lasts 5-10 years because there is no tolerance for maintenance to be performed.  As  the vehicles we drive change so does the load on the bridge and how the bridge handles on windy days. A bridge of cars is going to handle different on a windy day than a bridge full of tractor trailers since the trailer are going to be more impacted by the wind. I feel that we need a method that incorporates weather related stresses as well as stresses ove time.