Flashcards Balsa Bridge building-Engineering

Angle

the figure formed by two lines extending from the same point

Beam

A horizontal supporting member

Constraint

Limitations on the design, such as available funds, resources, or time.

Criteria

are things the design needs to do in order to be successful--its requirements.

Critical Load

The weight a structure can support before falling.

Joint

A place where two or more things come together and are united.

Load

The overall force to which a structure is subjected in supporting a weight or mass or in resisting externally applied forces.

Racking

A type of stress that distorts a square or rectangle, causing it to become a parallelogram.

Span

The measure of distance between supports

Truss

A rigid framework, as of wooden beams or metal bars, using triangles and designed to support a structure such as a bridge.

Rigid

Stiff or not easily bent.

Superstructure

A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline.

Substructure

an underlying or supporting structure below.

Balsa Wood

very lightweight wood used chiefly for making models

Road Bed

the part of the surface of a road traveled by vehicles, also known as the deck

Timber Cutter

Cut balsa wood with precision angles

Pins

designed to hold joints and structures

Grid Paper

used to draw the views of your bridge

Structure glue

glue designed to adhere (bond) wood joints

Bridges

A s structure carrying a road, path, railroad, or canal across a river, ravine, road, railroad, or other obstacle.

Cantilever bridge

Counter balanced beams, supports toward the middle of the bridge.

Cable-stayed Bridge

Like Zakim Bridge in Boston, is like both the cantilever and suspension bridge. Towers toward the middle of the bridge hold cables. The cables hold the deck/road.

Suspension Bridge

2 towers at either end that hold cables. Cables are anchored to the deck/road and it covers LONG spans. It is designed to flex and move in response to forces

What is the strongest geometric shape?

A triangle

Arch Bridge

Bridge having a curved structure, ALWAYS under compression, abutments support the sidewalls of the arch, KEYSTONE in center hold the bridge together.

Compression

A FORCE that shortens, squeezes or crushes a structure, squeezing forces

Tension

A FORCE that PULLS a structure in opposite directions. Can stretch and pull apart

Bending

A condition when a structure buckles due to a load.

Dead Load

The weight of the bridges structure.