Last week we listened to Professor Mitchell explain to us how to find the different forces throughout the bridge when a single weight is suspended from the middle of the bridge, like it is for our competition. After that we started working on the Method of Joints in order to complete the Truss Analysis that will be completed soon after this post. We finished most of the calculations in class, but sadly there was not enough time in class to finish all of the calculations. In the upcoming week our group plans on using the tools we have learned over the previous week plus everything we have learned in this lab so far in order to build a 36" bridge. The major accomplishment of the week last week was almost finishing the Method of Joints. That was very clutch. We are currently not having too many problems. The biggest problem we have to fix is with our bridge design. The middle sways too much and is too vulnerable, as the Truss Analysis this week has shown. I plan on supporting the middle of the bridge better to fix these crucial problems.
The method of analysis is a great step in the right direction for a real bridge, but it is not sufficient. Scaling is one big problem, and it will be discussed in greater detail in my A3 post. Also, some of the materials will weigh differently, and a different weight could be suspended from the middle. While corrections to calculations can easily fix these problems, it's a hassle and there has got to be a more efficient way to analysis the trusses and use this analysis to construct a more efficient bridge.
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