Week 2- Frame This weeks studio activity looked at the concept of tension which is the opposite force of compression where internal forces are pulling outwards. Within the studio our groups were tasked with building structures from thin balsa wood and glue or masking tape that were meant to be as tall as possible while still be able to support heavy objects. Our group started off sketching and thinking about several ideas with our main ideas stemming from triangles which are cross braced and are therefore stronger in tension frame structures than the standard square or rectangle. We decided on a pentagonal base as it allowed us to explore and use the triangular shape which gives the best support for structures in tension. We started off with shorter sticks as this gives less area for the beams to deform or flex and break. Once we finished a level we cross supported it to strengthen the frame and to also provide a platform for objects to be placed upon. As the levels went up this sticks increased in size in order for us to make a tall structure, this contributed to the structures downfall but to minimise this we did narrow the structure the taller it got to ensure that the centre of gravity was as close to the middle of the structure as possible which would lead hopefully to an even distribution of weight and in turn force. When our structure was weight tested it survived most middle weighted objects, however when the heavier spray bottle was placed higher up on the structure the longer beams deflected and ultimately snapped under the pressure and load. In order to avoid this in future structures I would either uses shorter beams or cross brace them more, or even a combination of both.
Week 2 - Tension
Mar 13, 2016
ENVS10003
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Week 2- Frame This weeks studio activity looked at the concept of tension which is the opposite force of compression where internal forces are pulling outwards. Within the studio our groups were tasked with building structures from thin balsa wood and glue or masking tape that were meant to be as tall as possible while still be able to support heavy objects. Our group started off sketching and thinking about several ideas with our main ideas stemming from triangles which are cross braced and are therefore stronger in tension frame structures than the standard square or rectangle. We decided on a pentagonal base as it allowed us to explore and use the triangular shape which gives the best support for structures in tension. We started off with shorter sticks as this gives less area for the beams to deform or flex and break. Once we finished a level we cross supported it to strengthen the frame and to also provide a platform for objects to be placed upon. As the levels went up this sticks increased in size in order for us to make a tall structure, this contributed to the structures downfall but to minimise this we did narrow the structure the taller it got to ensure that the centre of gravity was as close to the middle of the structure as possible which would lead hopefully to an even distribution of weight and in turn force. When our structure was weight tested it survived most middle weighted objects, however when the heavier spray bottle was placed higher up on the structure the longer beams deflected and ultimately snapped under the pressure and load. In order to avoid this in future structures I would either uses shorter beams or cross brace them more, or even a combination of both.
The material may also be more efficient if it was slightly thicker, the thinness at times meant that it would be hard no matter how well built for the structure to support a certain level of weight.
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