Opera House Bar

Week 1 - Span

1. Sate Sticks, hot glue
1. Our bridge design took inspiration from plywood, which we saw as a strong, effective method that used thin materials. We proceeded to glue together layers of sate sticks in alternating orientation. Whilst our assembly procedure was taking place, we realised that this method was strong, but used a lot of material. Furthermore, the length of each stick was less than the gap we had to bridge, so we had to double up on our material, adding more weight in the centre of the bridge.
2. Our test of the bridge was more successful than we expected. 10 reams of paper were able to be placed upon the bridge, which flexed under the weight. The point of failure was only reached when the immense strength and force of Andrew was unleashed upon the bridge.

1. Sate sticks, rubber bands, fishing line
1. For our second design, we chose to be more conservative with our use of materials. We decided to create a truss bridge, with rubber bands forming a pin joint between the sate sticks.
2. Our test of the bridge matched our expectations. The point of failure occurred when the sides of the bridge twisted and collapsed. This was because the base frame was a square shape and therefore had reduced structural integrity. Had the triangles repeated, a stronger bridge would have resulted.

1. Paper
1. For our final design, we decided to fold several sheets of paper to create triangular beams. Following this, we decided to reinforce the beam by rolling cylinders of paper and inserting along the span of the bridge.
2. This bridge design managed to support 1½ reams of paper. the bridge failed to maintain its rigidity under this weight and simply folded.

Week 2 - Vertical load

1. Sate sticks, hot glue
1. Due to the success of our layered bridge design last week, we chose to repeat this method. However, due to the smaller area needed to transfer load to, we didn’t need to repeat as many lengths as previously.
2. Once again, the layered design exceeded expectations. The point of failure occurred when the glue holding the sticks together broke, causing the sticks to roll/slide out

1. Sate sticks, rubber bands
1. For this design, we chose to bundle the sticks together and secure with rubber bands. We then created a platform by joining the edges of the platform together.
2. We encountered a similar result to the previous design, where the rubber bands stretched, causing the bundles to flatten.

1. Paper
1. For our final design, we chose to roll pieces of paper tightly, creating many small columns.
2. This design was very strong and supported a lot of weight. The point of failure occurred when the load shifted from vertical to horizontal and tipped the columns over. In addition to this, the heights of the columns were slightly uneven, causing the load to be unequally distributed. This changed the direction of the load.

Week 3 - cards

For this week's exercise, we aimed to build the tallest structure we could, using only a standard deck of playing cards and paper clips. Our method of construction was to bend three cards together in tension against one another. This created a strong and stable section, which was repeated up the tower. At the base of the tower, we made a larger footprint for greater stability. Single cards were attached to the top of the tower for extra height and as an architectural design feature.

The tower was strong under vertical loading and showed no sign of weakness. When a wind force was applied horizontally, the tower fell over. This was due to the paper clip joints slipping out of place, causing the cards to separate.