Final Project Sample, Engineering

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Assembling the Pieces: An Engineer’s Tale

A genre is an entity of itself that is not easily defined. Some try to understand it as a

“…dynamic patterning of human experience, as one of the concepts that enables us to construct

our writing world” (Devitt, 3). This is true for almost all genres, for the layout of the

communication can be the same, such as an email, a letter, or even a lab report. Still as research,

communication and even technology changes, the content or methods of transmitting this

knowledge may change. For example, before email and the internet, engineers relied on books

and journals that were mainly in printed text. No matter the form that the genre may be in, it is

still a method for a certain discourse community to communicate within itself in a matter that

suites their needs. In regards to engineering, especially in research, the typical layout of the lab

report is easily recognizable to that community. It is flexible to fit the needs of the engineer, for

the research may use the skeletal structure of a lab report as a basis but build upon it depending

on the research that they are conducting.

Since, according to various genres theorists, genres reveal useful information regarding the

values and goals of discourse communities, I will be using the genres of a community that I plan

to enter as a way of analyzing how to communicate with that group. I have chosen to study in the

Mechanical Engineering discipline, because I have been interested in the mechanical behind the

designing and construction of roller coasters. In order to analyze appropriate methods of

communication for that group, I will be analyzing three articles from the field, looking

specifically at the genre settings, participants, features, subjects, and patterns.

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Setting

The three articles that I found, that pertain to my major, Mechanical Engineering, are

from the journal Engineering Fracture Mechanics. This journal is in association with the

European Structural Integrity Society which shows that this journal is not only a way for

engineers to share knowledge about the subject, but to abide by a higher code of ethics,

particularly regarding the structural integrity. This journal would be mainly used for and by

researchers and practitioners, who deal with fracture mechanics in both the academic and

industrial world. Other articles such as, “Assessment of three-dimensional crack growth in

ductile layered material systems,” that were published in the same journal all deal with stress,

strain, or fractures in a structure. The articles in this journal can be applied to stationary

engineering that focuses on preventing possible fractures in the original structure, in some cases

this can be a roller coaster structure. I was able to access these articles through the library

database called Science Direct. Science Direct “is a leading full-text scientific database offering

journal articles and book chapters from more than 2,500 peer-reviewed journals and more than

11,000 books” (Science Direct, 1). In order to refine my search for the specific subject, as well as

in my field, I used an advanced search including the words roller coaster, engineering, and

safety.

The engineering community is a unique but wholesome community that values hard

work, integrity, honesty, and scholarship. Like other professional communities they are never

satisfied with the knowledge that they have already acquired. They always are seeking the next

breakthrough research that will make everyone’s lives a bit easier as well as safer.

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Subject

The article,“ Fatigue Strength Assessment of Welded Joints: From the Integration of

Paris’ Law to a Synthesis Based on the Notch Stress Intensity Factors of the Uncracked

Geometries,” discusses the different methods of welding joints as well as how much stress each

type of joint can handle without cracking. Issues that are addressed in this journal are the

variable amounts of fatigue stress on the joints and how the cracks resulting from overstressing

the joints affect the overall structural integrity. When people, mainly engineers, read this journal

they are discussing the numerical or applicable methods presented in the research paper. For this

specific research, the main focus that the reader would look into is how to properly asses the

fatigue strength of the welded joints. This will help out when calculating the structural stability

of the building or amusement attraction.

Pertaining to the analysis of the joints of the structure as in the previous article, the topic

discussed in, “The Peak Stress Method Applied to Fatigue Assessments of Steel Tubular Welded

Joints Subject to Mode-I Loading” is about how researchers discovered a new way to analyze

stress in a structure. This article mainly focuses on how a certain method dubbed the “Peak

Stress Method” is an accurate way in which engineers assess and analyzes the fatigue life of

joints before possible breakage. The research article would mostly be read by the engineers who

are in the process of designing and manufacturing roller coasters. The stress analyzed would be

looking at how well the structure can sustain a moving vehicle atop (“model-I loading in

technical terms) (Meneghettia, Manarab, and Atzoria, 2008).

Adding to the knowledge acquired in the other articles in this journal, the article, “Crack

tip plasticity of a penny-shaped Dugdale crack in a power-law graded elastic infinite medium” is

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named as a recent breakthrough in the engineering world. It deals with fracture analysis in joints

as well as in solid mechanics. It discusses the “Dugdale Crack” which is a crack that mainly

occurs when one joint is embedded in another material. The issue addressed is that this

stress/crack analysis has never been successfully calculated before and can help increase the

overall structural integrity (by even possibly preventing the crack altogether). For engineers, who

specialize in structural processes, this would be extremely useful especially in regards to the

stress analysis of the structure. If they can analyze a problem before time and money are wasted,

this will save a decent amount of work in the industrial world.

The way that these articles contribute to the industrial world is that they all deal with

finding different ways in which to solve, analyze, and even prevent a crack age in the structure,

such as a roller coaster, in the first place. Each has a different idea or method when looking at the

possible crack age of a structure. Whether it be by analyzing the never before researched

Dugdale crack or simply looking at the stress that the structure as a whole has to endure with the

weight of model-I loading, each research area contributes to each other in the field of fracture

mechanics overall.

Participants

The individuals who usually read these research articles are usually engineers who know

the technical basis of the journal, in this case Engineering Fracture Mechanics. These findings

are usually put into good use on everyday structures. For engineering is always updating,

developing and changing in order to keep up with today’s society. The certain discipline of

engineers that would utilize this knowledge however would be civil engineers. Civil Engineering

is a “… branch of engineering that specializes in the design and construction of structures such

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as bridges, roads, and dams”(Dictionary.com).Still engineers are always working together and

even though this article would be used more by a civil engineer, doesn’t mean a Mechanical,

Environmental, Electrical, or even an Industrial Engineers would not read it. Still these journals

are pretty dense with technical terms and the reader should have a good understanding of the

main engineering fundamentals, like Statics (principle of engineering that mainly studies the

physics and forces working on nonmoving structures), to have a decent understanding of the

material.

The writers of this material are usually engineering professors, Ph.D. students and even

Masters Students, of universities all over the world. From the articles I have already read, this

particular journal contains authors that are mainly faculty members of the mechanical

engineering department from specific schools. In the engineering community, education plays a

major role. A Master’s degree is greatly respected in the community and shows that you are

serious about your field. By pursuing a PhD. or even becoming a professor, scholars in the field

show that they enjoy the university setting or even passing knowledge to the next engineers. For

example one of the authors, Professor Paola Lazzarin is a professor (of machine design) at the

University of Padova. He conducts research based stress of materials. He is in the department of

Mechanical Engineering, even though this subject of stress analysis falls under Civil

Engineering. He has published or co-authored more than one hundred research papers as well as

collaborated with many other professors. The schools, such as the one Professor Lazzarin is at,

are in places like Italy, China, and France. It shows that no matter where you are or what

university you are at in the world, research is a common form of communicating ones

knowledge, particularly in the field of engineering.

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Features

The recurrent features these articles have are that they consist of dense engineering jargon

which is specialized to a specific branch of engineering. For example, one of the articles

mentions “Fatigue strength data in terms of nominal stress range or the mode I NSIF range (from

Ref. [3]. Original series from Maddox and Gurney). All joints re-analyzed here were as-welded,

with a V-notch angle at the weld toe equal to 13. Scatter bands defined by mean values ±

2SD”(Atzoria, Lazzarin, and Meneghetti, 2008). Even with a decent knowledge of engineering,

the terms and references are not common knowledge. Still, as engineers, the authors offer some

forms of explanation to explain their research such as reference notation charts, detailed analysis

diagrams and equations (with explained variables). The content is treated like a scientific project,

it gives a background or reason for this research, proposes a problem and through the scientific

method, attempts to come up with a solution. For research such as this, the software or program

would be mentioned as well as the assumed parameters of the experiment (ex. What metals used,

how much stress was applied). The sources are cited throughout the paper, due to frequent

references to data in order to support their own or how their results compare to a previous study.

For example when the researchers try to describe the validity of the solution to solve or prevent

the Dugdale crack they reference that “In Table 2, a comparison of the present solution is made

with those redicted by Chaiyat et al. [33], for a homogeneous medium (k = 0) containing a

Dugdale crack subjected to a uniformly distributed pressure (n = 0)” (Wang, Lia, Chen, and

Wang, 2012). When the article states “Table 2”, it is referring to data that was already acquired

by the experiment performed and then showing how it compares to another experiments data by

mentioning “Chaiyat et al. [33]”. By doing this, it shows how this experiment is an improvement

on previous data acquired.

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The layouts of the texts are usually in a similar pattern. First comes the abstract

summarizing the research and giving a peak into what they have accomplished through it. Then

an introduction of why they are researching this follows. The introduction mainly cites other

works and elaborates whether or not the research is meant to expand the knowledge base of the

subject. After comes the Nomenclature that clarifies all of the variables that are going to be in

this report. Then the methods are detailed thoroughly throughout the paper explaining the

physical, computerized and mathematical computation used to achieve these results. These

sections are usually divided by sub-subject headings to further clarify their meanings. An

example of these subsections in the research papers is in Atzoria’s et al. paper “Fatigue strength

assessment of welded joints: From the integration of Paris’ law to a synthesis based on the notch

stress intensity factors of the uncracked geometries” with the subsection titled “2. Notch stress

intensity factors approach (failure from weld toes).” This subsection is utilized by further

comparing and elaborating about different types of cracks. Data is usually compiled into detailed

charts. Finally a results section gives the results of the findings and the conclusions further

explains the significance of both the experiment as well as how their experiment contributed to

the field of research. With all of these components of an engineering research paper, they are

usually very long. The shortest papers are usually ten pages but can possible have the length of

about one hundred pages. With a length such as 10 or more pages, writer’s voice is usually

straight to the point, trying to condense as much data as possible. Also they are very scientific

due to the results not pertaining to any certain bias when it comes to

factual science.

Most of the authors and researchers of these papers are either professors at widely known

universities or even Masters and PhD. students in the engineering field. In this community,

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knowledge and experience is an irreplaceable treasure that is passed from the older to younger

generation in order to keep the integrity and knowledge of the engineering practice sound.

Patterns

The genre features of these articles reveal that theses research journals are used as ways

for engineers all over the world to communicate their findings as well as knowledge to other

engineers. Most of the mathematical jargon is recognized by every engineer with a minimum of a

Bachelor’s degree. If not, the unknown terms are defined in the Nomenclature, to further clarify

and successfully communicate the findings. Such features, as the Nomenclature and its location

in the research journal, are common knowledge to engineers when it comes to reading and

finding the needed information. This shows the importance of each part of the journals

organization. Each section is clearly defined with a title or individual section that indicates what

the information in that area is about. Also the most important part of the paper is the math and

charts illustrating the data or how the researcher came across this certain finding. Engineers like

to know the concrete facts in which these findings came from, either to validate it, analyze it, or

to use it to expand or base their own research on. With engineering research journals, there are

very little words. The words and sentences are usually used in the introduction, and abstract,

conclusion. They are also used in the data sections, briefly, in order to explain the reasoning

regarding the math or where some equations were derived from.

The value that engineers abide to no matter what branch of engineering they are in is the

engineering code of ethics. It states that

“…engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct” (NSPE,2012).

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This means, in research, that engineers have to maintain a high standard of integrity. This

includes, when publishing a journal, that all data is true and your own (no plagiarism). Also the

findings or research can’t put anyone or anything in harm’s way. This having engineers write the

research journal right to the point as well as abiding by all of the rules of the NSPE Code of

Ethics for Engineers. Also, in order to include as much information as possible in a paper, the

papers are very straight to the point not acknowledging any bias towards anything. These are

mathematics and science based papers and can be rather dry when it comes to emotion.

Engineers try to communicate as much information as possible without emotions sabotaging

their work. Still they are not robots just cranking out data; they are just hard working and know

when to keep emotions out.

From Genres to Arguments: The Structure of Roller Coasters

After exploring genres common to the field of Mechanical Engineering through a

preliminary genre analysis, I continued to analyze the language and genres of my field by tracing

a mechanical concern relevant to engineers. To do this, I have gathered articles relating to the

connection between structural stress analysis and amusement rides, such as roller coasters. I have

found numerous of academic articles pertaining to this topic, and have traced the consistencies

and patterns that are common to these articles. Through my research, I have found sources that

discuss the research of peak stress analysis in structures (Atzoria et al.2010; Meneghettia et al.

2010; Li et al. 2012), as well as documentation of safety protocol (ASTM International 2011;

NSPE 2007), which is applied in the industrial world through amusement parks such as Walt

Disney World, Universal Studios and Alton Towers (Ogando 2008; Mackey 2004; Professional

Engineering 1997). These sources have assisted me in identifying the various aspects of this

issue in relation to the field of mechanical engineering. In addition, these articles have helped me

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to continue to explore the genre conventions that I will need to learn as I begin to enter a new

community in my major.

Besides the rush of adrenaline that comes after being launched from zero to sixty miles

per hour, the machinery behind these monsters of rides is what really intrigued me into wanting

to become an engineer. Ever since the end of middle school, when there was a picture of a roller

coaster on the cover of my textbook, I have been interested in roller coasters. The mechanics as

well as the crazy structures are always interested to look at… and ride. In my perspective it is

almost like riding physics. Also, my family frequented Disney annually and I noticed the

emotional effect that this amusement park has on people. A part of my goal as an upcoming

engineer is to work at Walt Disney World creating roller coasters that will make people happy

and be able to escape the world on high speed adventures (even though they might only be about

two minutes long). Still safety is a main issue, in which Disney prides itself in, so I decided on

the topic of structural analysis pertaining to roller coasters in engineering. This is a way I can

also link my major of mechanical engineering to structures, which is civil engineering. By

searching through the database Academics Search Premier, which linked me to Science Direct, I

was able research the concept of structural analysis. This is due to the topic of stress in Materials

being a specific field of study in Mechanical Engineering (when obtaining an Undergraduate

Degree in this field). Then I linked the structural aspect to the stress on the joints of roller

coasters. With roller coasters, other issues are present besides (most importantly) the structure.

Ethics and protocol are a major factor that affects the engineer in the field. The most important

thing is that anyone riding the roller coaster is safe as possible. My interests are in the

understanding the research behind structural fracture analysis, and how this pertains to

amusement rides and the code of engineering ethics.

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Research behind the Structures of Roller Coasters

Dozens of thrill seeking daredevils climb aboard a roller coasters every year not knowing

the time, research and most importantly, the engineering that goes into creating these monsters.

From the drawing board to the last bolt that holds them together, these engineering marvels are

the product of numerous professors’ lab research. This type of research is called structural

analysis; which by definition is basically a detailed evaluation that is intended to assure that, for

any structure, the deformations will be sufficiently below allowable values that structural failure

will not occur (The Free Dictionary, 2003, sec 1). Research in structural analysis is essential due

to being a major asset to contributing the overall safety of the structural integrity of any ride. At

universities, where most of this research takes place, researchers are able to isolate certain

parameters that may be the cause of overstressing the structure overall through pinpointing with

certain structural analysis techniques (Atzoria et al.2010; Meneghettia et al. 2008; Li et al. 2012).

Researchers Meneghettia, Manarab, and Atzoria, from both the University of Padova and from

the amusement park company, Zamperla, analyzed "The Peak Stress Method applied to fatigue

assessments of steel tubular welded joints subject to mode-I loading.” The research conducted

can be applied to amusement rides, such as roller coasters. From the introduction, they explain

that

Considering a welded joint of the steel structure, every time that a wheel of a car approaches that joint, goes on top of it and departs from it, the joint will undergo a stress cycle, with a stress magnitude that will be initially increasing, reaching a peak and then vanishing. According to the kind of joint, stresses might generate pulsating fatigue or alternate fatigue (Meneghettia et al, 2010, p. 1).

What they are basically talking about is that the structure of a roller coaster is unique to

any other type of structure. A roller coaster’s main frame is undergoing various stresses

momentarily at different points whenever the train car rolls on it. By researching they tested

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different analysis methods in which to evaluate the fatigue of the structure joints. They

concluded that the Peak Stress Method which is the method that “analy[zes] the fatigue strength

of tubular welded joints made of construction steels”(Meneghetti, 2008, p.2114) is preferred

when it comes to analyzing the amount of stress the structure of roller coasters can endure.

Professor Atzoria, who specializes in the research of structural stress analysis, usually

focuses on structures that have to undergo stress from model-I loading which occurs with roller

coasters. By co-authoring other research methods of structural analysis, such as Lazzarin and

Meneghetti, Atzoria is able to build on his previous acquired knowledge, by focusing on static

structures. Static structures such as buildings, are easier to analyze than roller coaster because

they are nonmoving, which excludes other factors of stress. This is different from a roller

coaster’s varied and rather spontaneous weight of the train car as it increases velocity across the

coaster numerous of times a day. Lazzarin and Meneghetti, focused on the fatigue as well as the

amount of stress that certain materials can handle, under certain structural conditions. With their

colleague, Atzoria, they were able to utilize other methods of analysis such as (NSIF’s) notch

stress intensity which investigates the amount of stress that each part is capable of handling in

order to avoid any breakage of the structure. They explain in their abstract the general idea of

their study

By assuming such a radius equal to zero, the paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the Notch-stress intensity factor approach in summarizing a number of experimental data from failures occurring at the weld toe. Then it is shown that fatigue data from failures originated from both weld roots and weld toes can be summarized in a single scatter band by using the mean value of the strain energy density in a well-defined volume (area) surrounding the critical points (Atzoria et al., 2010 , p. 1).

This overview gives a window into what they are looking at generally but contains such

details as the certain methods. This includes analyzing the scatter band of data in order to get a

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general idea of where the critical points are. In the end the researchers are able to pinpoint the

crack (where it originates and the robustness of it) through the original NSIF method (Atzoria,

Lazzarin, and Meneghetti). NSIF is short for Notch Stress Intensity Factors, which is a method

that was used to “…summarize the total fatigue life data” (Atzoria, 2008, p364) .It basically

takes all of the previously acquired data from the experiment (when they analyzed the structure

joint) and analyzes where the crack may possibly be. Even though Atzoria, Lazzarin and

Meneghetti chose to research the stress using the NSIF method, Atzoria’s past research regarding

the Peak Stress Analysis method still is a sufficient asset to the study of Fracture Analysis.

Research is a way for engineers to communicate, for the concepts of math and physics

area universal concept. The topic of structural analysis connects professors like Atzoria,

Meneghetti, and Lazzarin (from Italy), to authors Li, and Chen (from Japan). They elaborate on a

certain analysis of structures, but looked at a certain crack dubbed the Dugdale Crack (Li, Chen,

and Wang). The Dugdale crack is characterized as a previously unidentifiable crack within the

actual jointed of a beam that is used to support a structure. This can pertain to buildings, bridges

and even roller coasters. One method that led to identifying this crack is through having

“Systematical calculations a made to investigate the influence of some physical parameters on

the size of plastic zone and the distribution of the normal stress” (Wang et al., 2012, p. 1). By

being able to isolate and research a specific area of a structure rather than finding out later in a

large structure, it is easier for the people in the industrial field. Being able to find, recognize, as

well as analyze this crack for the first time, this research is a recent breakthrough in structure

fracture analysis. Although the research of the Dugdale crack is unlike the Atzoria’s topics of

study, each contributes to the overall understanding as well as different methods in which to look

up the cracks in the overall structure.

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The continuous research that is conducted on this one topic only adds on to the already

acquired knowledge that engineers already have on this subject. In regards to amusement rides,

such as roller coasters, the analysis methods are ways that keep their guests safe by keeping the

structure sound. Structural fracture analysis overall is a contributor to both the riders and the

engineers wellbeing and is continuously being expanded.

Examples of Safety in the Amusement Park Industry

Safety of the attractions at these major amusement park industries is imperative not only

to their guests safety but to the parks overall wellbeing. Amusement park industrial giants

including Universal Studios, Walt Disney World, and even Alton Towers, focus on the safety

features as well as how they can use the newest technologies to improve them (Ogando 2008;

Mackey 2004; Professional Engineering 2002). For example, in England, there is a major

amusement park called Alton Towers, who are the epitome of amusement park safety. The chief

safety engineer explains the importance of safety to their company. He quotes, “We are here to

give people the experience of their lives, not take their lives” (Professional Engineering, 2002, p.

28). The engineers there look at every detail in the rides before even considering opening the ride

to the public. They know, if something was to go wrong, that high velocity and complex steel

coasters, accidents “…are usually fatal”, which is quoted by Gordon Severn (the park’s safety

advisor). To Severn, the riders’ safety is of the highest priority, and he gives examples of how

the theme parks rides are maintained in a single location rather than undergoing constant

movement of the structure. He then goes on to explain how the park maintains a constant

surveillance/control of the amount of voltage that is plugged into the ride, in order to maintain

constant control. The engineers at Alton Towers do all they can in order to prevent any mishaps

in their amusement park rides.

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No matter how numerous the precautions, something, unfortunately always goes wrong.

At the amusement park in England, Alton Towers, the same park that was applauded for their

safety precautions years earlier in the Professional Engineering magazine, had a treacherous

mishap with one of their rides. The HSE reported a major violation of safety protocol when the

attraction, located at Alton Towers (in England), injured 29 people, due to a failed coupling

mechanism which caused the “car to separate and ultimately crash[ing] into each other”

(Professional Engineering, 2006, p.1). The Runaway Mine Train (literally living up to its name),

now has to pass HSE annual safety checks along with daily safety checks by the staff, before

opening the ride to the public. These consequences follow any violation of amusement ride

safety protocol. Even though no ride system is perfect, it is a serious matter when people are

injured or worse killed due to an amusement ride. In response “The ride will remain closed until

inspectors are satisfied it is safe” (Professional Engineering, 2006, p. 1). When mishaps like this

occur, safety engineers will double and even triple their analysis of the ride before opening it to

patrons. Unfortunately, for some parks, it takes a tragedy in order to have safety features become

the highest priority.

One of the leading companies in the amusement park industry, Walt Disney World, never

takes any risks when it comes to safety of their guests. Even though parks such as Alton Towers,

took precautions, Disney would go one step further in order to make sure an incident such as the

“Runaway Mine Train” incident would have never even happened in the first place. Disney

prides itself when it comes to safety, but is always looking for improvement on the subject. With

new advances in the latest technology, Disney called on its industrial partner, Siemens, to help

them create a new safety control system standard for all of their attractions. One of the Siemens

engineers on this unique project remarked that ‘“…The new safety system is essentially a

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software implementation of Disney's unique safety requirements”’ (Ogando, 2008, p. 1).

Disney’s old safety system, which is applied to a majority of its attractions, consists of a “black

box” control system, which is literally a black box located in the rides’ control cabinet. The

system was applied to Disney’s newest attraction Toy Story Midway Mania, and is a more

simplified system that will be able to stop a ride, if anything malfunctions, without shutting off

the attraction entirely. This breakthrough, from the help of the collaboration of Disney and

Siemens, will not only improve the quality of the ride for amusement but also safety purposes as

well.

Universal Studios has the same amount of regard for the safety of their guest as much as

their lead competitor, Walt Disney World. Akin to Disney bringing in Siemens to assist with the

safety makeover of their ride systems, Universal called in the assistance of an aerospace

engineering company called GLENCO Engineering Inc. They did this in order to fully analyze

the structure of the vehicle of their ride, Spider-man. This aerospace engineering company

“…specializes in structural analysis and strain gauge testing for the theme park industry by

methods that were developed for aerospace engineering” (Hartung, 2000, p.3). This type of

analysis was manly applied to receive accurate and extremely detailed analysis of the strength as

well as flexibility of the vehicle. The company brought in analysis software called ANSYS

Mechanical, which was able to take a pre-made prototype of the Spider-man vehicle and analyze

every part. The analysis showed that most of the peak stress, especially from all of the

stress/strain the ride will endure originates from the floor piece of the vehicle. The floor piece of

the vehicle is the part of the ride in which the main cabin of the ride rotates and moves on in

order to create the moving simulation effect of the adventures that Spiderman takes you on.

Nevertheless, by analyzing this problem before the ride was built (and ready to be open to the

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public), saved Universal Studios, both time and money by fixing the problem now. This problem

was fixed just by adding a few rib pieces (support pieces) into the base of the vehicle that would

further support the ride as well as not affect the safety of the riders overall experience.

All three theme park industrial giants including the infamous Walt Disney World, the

theatrical Universal Studios, and the thrill seeking Alton Towers, uphold a reputation in safety.

Whether it is for the overall safety of their guests, or trying to avoid the overcomplicated lawsuit

that will result (if something were to go wrong), there are still an engineers behind the making of

all of those rides. Every engineer lives up to a higher code of ethic as well as standards and like

doctors can be convicted of malpractice if they knowingly knew that something was not safe.

Safety Protocol and the Engineering Code of Ethics

In any field of engineering, there is a moral code of ethics and technical standards that

must be abided by. The very first section in the “NSPE Engineering Code of Ethics” states that

“Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public” (NSPE, 2007, p.

1). This statement bluntly states that public’s safety comes first no matter what. As practicing

engineers, we owe our allegiance to the public and improving the value of life as a whole. This

also means that integrity and honesty come before profit. When designing or even constructing

roller coasters, if there is something wrong, it should be addressed immediately. This code of

ethics is introduced even to the upcoming engineers in universities as early as freshman year in

college. This shows that it is imperative for all engineers to be acquainted with it in order to

uphold the higher standard that all engineers share. The “NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers” is

a code of conduct for every type of engineer, which is updated almost annually by the National

Society of Professional Engineers. This society is a group of engineers who have been practicing

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for more than ten years and understand the responsibilities of engineers. They lace the code with

regulations which include the importance of honesty, and integrity. The engineering profession

has a direct and vital importance when it comes to the quality of life for others, for its services

are and must be dedicated to the public’s health, safety and welfare. The code is organized into

categories of importance which include Fundamental Canons, Rules of Practice, Professional

Obligations, as well as a section regarding Judicial matters. Each explains how to approach

different situations listed while practicing in the field.

The guidelines set by the engineering code of ethics set a standard of practice for all

engineers and is written in a form that engineers are used to. Having organized listings, that

include headings and subheadings (which offer further details explaining them) are important for

clarification of the subject. ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) International is

a society that specializes in establishing and publishing the technical standards of certain

products and materials in the engineering field. They are responsible for publishing the

“Standard Practice for Measuring the Dynamic Characteristics of Amusement Rides and

Devices”, which is the protocol or standardized test that each attraction has to pass with a certain

amount of credibility. The document mainly focuses on the Standardized Amusement Ride

Characterization (SARC) as well as its focus on minute details of how to conduct the test. This

comes in handy when the attraction may have slight deviations from the test parameters. In order

to clarify the details of the assessment, the protocol explains every component of the test. If this

is violated it becomes a more serious matter in which an engineer would have to resort to a part

of the “Engineering Code of Ethics” which is located under the second heading (Rules of

Practice) section one subsection f. It states that

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Engineers having knowledge of any alleged violation of this Code shall report thereon to appropriate professional bodies and, when relevant, also to public authorities, and cooperate with the proper authorities in furnishing such information or assistance as may be required (NSPE, 2007, p. 1).

This is important because if both the “Engineering Code of Ethics” and the “Standard

Practice for Measuring the Dynamic Characteristics of Amusement Rides and Devices” are

violated, the engineer is not only endangering their job but the lives of others as well (which is

the most important factor). Documentation and previously set standards are important in the

amusement park business, especially with the engineering aspect. No matter the situation roller

coasters are complicated subjects in the engineering field. They not only challenge gravity but

sometimes riders as well. The “Engineering Code of Ethics” is a reminder to the engineers, that

they are creating this for entertainment purposes only and should not be harmful in any way. At

the end of the day these rules and standards are there in order to keep everyone safe and secure.

The Missing Piece

Looking at all of the remarkable research that is put into analyzing the structure of roller

coasters, I have noticed that it is more difficult to find research articles regarding the effect of the

roller coaster vehicle when it is on top the structure. There are few articles, such as Atzoria’s et

al. “The Peak Stress Method applied to fatigue assessments of steel tubular welded joints subject

to mode-I loading,” which explain how the structure is affected as the car passes on the track at

certain points; this is an important subject in which all roller coasters have in common.

Although the structures in the roller coaster industry are successful, there are still limited

research articles (that I was able to find) that examine floorless roller coasters as well as how

they affect the stress on the joints of the structure. I would like to research if the model-I loading

is used for the floorless roller coasters such as Dragon Challenge coaster at Universal Studio’s

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Islands of Adventure. Examining the commonality of structural analysis methods on various

models of roller coasters (Such as wooden, steel, floorless, hanging, etc.) would be an interesting

topic to look into.

In order to begin this discovery, even before creating a proposal topic in which I would

base my experiment on, I would need to complete a very meticulous search about the topic of

structural analysis and how it relates to roller coasters. Part of the Engineering Code of Ethics is

against plagiarism as well as the University of Central Florida’s code of academic integrity. It

would not be fair or moral to conduct research that has already been done. In this case I could

narrow my search through the libraries databases (primarily the engineering ones), including

Science Direct. Also I would consult Google Scholar for its broadened view and commercial

availability of articles. This is due to the roller coaster oriented articles being mostly commercial

based because they are a public product. Once I have found the articles needed in which I am

able to make sure that nobody has previously conducted the research specific to structural

analysis and floorless roller coasters, I would have to write up a proposal. A proposal is a

document that briefly explains what I would like to research specifically (research question),

where I got the idea for it (literature review /background), how I propose to conduct the research

(methodology), my expected outcome, budget (for funding purposes) and timeline. It is

significant in the scientific field (even for all research) being a basis in which all research starts.

Most engineering experiments and articles begin this way (before even writing an extremely long

paper) because it is a way for organizations such as the National Science Foundation or even

companies such as Siemens, to validate if the research is worth investing in (or funding). This is

crucial due the need to have the right (and updated) equipment available in order to conduct the

experiment correctly.

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Once my research proposal is approved and funded, I would conduct the research, collect

the data (which is extremely important), and eventually write up the research paper explaining

what I did to come up with this answer/conclusion based on the results. The paper would need to

be meticulously detailed stating the mathematical equation, physics principles (and properties) as

well as any special software programs or machinery used. One example of the use of

mathematical equations is from another one of professor Atzoria’s co-authored research projects

about the “Fatigue strength assessment of welded joints” where the experiment uses one of

numerous equations and updates it for welded joints that “estimate[s] the fatigue limit for

components under prevailing mode I loading.”

This equation gives an idea of how complicated but useful mathematics is to engineering

(Atzoria, Lazzarin, and Meneghetti, 2008).

Some experiments such as Atzoria’s et al “The Peak Stress Method applied to fatigue

assessments of steel tubular welded joints subject to mode-I loading” are solely based on

different or improved methods of analyzing data. They utilized the Peak Stress Method, which

has been previously used in other papers that were co-authored by Lazzarin (an engineer that

Atzoria has previously worked with). Most of the equations as previously mentioned are

fundamental facts in physics and are derived from other concepts/methods. Atzoria et al. utilized

the Peak Stress Method but recorded the data a different way by analyzing a scatter band(another

word for a numerous amount) of data and found the average(Atzoria, Manara, and Meneghetti,

2010) .Certain experiments may base their results on past data and reference other papers in

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order to prove their point. Graphs and symbols are another commonly used method of

engineering research. They are a universal way for engineers to read data, since math is a

common language throughout the engineering world. I myself would cite the article by professor

Atzoria et al. that explains the Peak Stress Analysis method, which focusses on Mode-I loading

(2010). This would be a close article when it comes to discussing and analyzing how the

structure of a roller coaster is subjected to roller coaster cars (as well as the people’s weight).

The significance of the Mode-I loading is that it analyzes the random and extra stress that each

joint has to endure when the car rolls across. To build on this concept, and look at floorless roller

coasters, I believe that this would be harder to analyze due to the pressure and stress pulling

with a downward force on the joints rather than having a greater support such as with traditional

roller coaster designs.

Even though I have read numerous articles on the topic of stress analysis and how it

relates to roller coasters, my personal missing piece is to learn more of the basic concepts in

engineering. The papers have some concepts that are unfamiliar and sometimes are unfamiliar to

engineers with a Bachelors of Science in the engineering field. Research papers are specialty

areas in which that professor or even students in research labs devote much of their time and

work into. I myself am still learning and am even participating in research myself (but focusing

on turbine efficiency and heat transfer). It is a great and rewarding experience but shows you

how much you don’t know (which is not always a bad thing). My goal in the end is that when I

am ready to enter my field, professionally, I hope to be able to uncover or even discover the

methods that everyday engineers use as well as to contribute to the ongoing conversation of the

field as with professor Atzoria and professor Lazzarin (because they are constantly working

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together and citing each other). It will be great to learn and analyze these monsters, with great

detail, that we call roller coasters.

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Work Cited

ASTM International. (2011). Standard Practice for Measuring the Dynamic Characteristics of

Amusement Rides and Devices. F2137-11, 15.07, 1-11

Atzoria, B., Lazzarin, P., & Meneghetti, G. (2008). Fatigue strength assessment of welded joints:

From the integration of Paris’s law to a synthesis based on the notch stress intensity

factors of the uncracked geometries. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 75(3-4), 364-378.

Greek, D. (2002). Thrills without Spills. Professional Engineering, 10(7), 28

Hartung, Glen. "EASING THE STRAIN(theme park ride engineering technology at Universal

Studios theme park)." Mechanical Engineering-CIME. American Society of Mechanical

Engineers. 2000.

HSE Urges Extra Safety Checks On Faulty Fairground Ride. (Professional Engineering, 2006).

19, 4

Joseph Ogando. (2008, August). Disney's Safety System Makeover. Design

News, 63(11), 44. Retrieved May 24, 2012, from ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry.

(Document ID: 1528934721).

Li, X., Chen, W., Wang, H., & Wang, G. (2012). Crack tip plasticity of a penny-shaped Dugdale

crack in a power-law graded elastic infinite medium. Engineering Fracture Mechanics,

88, 1-14.

Mackey, C. (2004). REVENGE OF THE MUMMY (An exclusive look at the engineering

behind Universal Studios' thrilling new ride). Design News , 71-78. Retrieved May 18,

2012, from www.designnews.com

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Meneghetti, G., Atzori, B., & Manara, G. (2010). The Peak Stress Method applied to fatigue

assessments of steel tubular welded joints subject to mode-I loading. Engineering

Fracture Mechanics, 77(11), 2100–2114.

NSPE. (2007). NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers. National Society of Professional Engineers,

1102. Retrieved May 20, 2012, http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html