Weekly Post (week 8)

1. What you did in the prior week
In last week, we did the truss analysis in class. Through the guide line of the online resources, we learned how to do the truss analysis using the joint method.  Triangle calculation and free body diagram are the most important parts of the method of joints.

2. What you and your teammates have agreed you'll do in the coming week
In the future weeks, we will prepare for the competition 2, which is the final competition. We will record the process of competition for the final lab report.

3. Major accomplishments of the week for the team
We understand how to identify the compression force and the tension force. It will be helpful in our future bridge improvement. The online bridge designer provides an idea that the scale of the triangles greatly impacts the force working between triangles.

4. Issues that the team or you as an individual faces
We still have a lot of assignment to complete in the future two weeks. We will try to improve our bridge using what we have learned from the truss analysis. And we need to finish the A4 report which is important for our final grade.

5. You have now experienced one form of analysis. Address the following questions about it considering your Knex bridge:

• Is that method of analysis sufficient for a real bridge? If not, why not?
It is not enough for a real bridge. We discussed the difference between WPBD between real bridges before. The truss analysis of what we did just in two dimensions. But for a real bridge, it needs to be considered as three dimensions. A real bridge has to take force from wind. And the load would not only apply on the center of the bridge. Emergency situations should also be considered.
• What further would you like to analyze and what knowledge or tools might assist you?
The force applying on different material will also impact the performance of the bridge. And the force apply on joints should also be analysis the increase the performance of the gusset plates.