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Bridge Design
Engineering Design Coursework
Project Description
Final Project for ES120, Mechanics of Solids.
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Students were asked to design a bridge with the best ratio of weight to strength (least material but strongest) out of laser cut balsa wood, acrylic, and various structural connectors.The 4-person team was given 1 week to design and test prototype bridges and run simulations in COMSOL and Solidworks.
Project Details
Our bridge was less than 1 ft in length, and was able to hold 1600 lbs when tested in an instron. The design may be even stronger in actuality-- upon breaking, an internal defect was found in the acrylic along the main fracture.
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