Flat vs. Vertical
School Name
Greenville Technical Charter High School
Grade Level
10th Grade
Presentation Topic
Engineering
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
In most buildings trusses are used to construct the roof. The typical residential roof is made of wood 2x’s. Those wood trusses are usually built vertically, where the surface area is the smallest, instead of flat. The purpose of the experiment is to see the effect on bridge models once the individual cord members’ orientation was been changed. To determine the effect of the orientation changes, two trapezoid truss bridges models were made. Each bridge was built exactly the same with the only difference being the orientation of the cord members. The models were constructed from 24” long Bass wood pieces that were cut into the needed sizes then hot glued together to create the truss (one side of a truss bridge). The 2 trusses were then attached to form a bridge. Once both bridges where made they were inserted in to a Testing Apparatus, at the Greenville Tech. College, one at a time. The Testing Apparatus is a machine used by the college to tell how much weight a bridge or other structure could handle before breaking. A white rectangular rod with a depression in the center was placed on the road way of the bridge and a metal rod was placed in the depression. The metal rod continued to add pressure until the bridge broke. The hypothesis for the experiment, based on the evidence, was that the vertical orientation model would work the best. No conclusion has yet been reached due to additional testing being needed.
Recommended Citation
Gandy, Elyse H., "Flat vs. Vertical" (2015). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 179.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2015/all/179
Start Date
4-11-2015 8:30 AM
End Date
4-11-2015 8:45 AM
Flat vs. Vertical
In most buildings trusses are used to construct the roof. The typical residential roof is made of wood 2x’s. Those wood trusses are usually built vertically, where the surface area is the smallest, instead of flat. The purpose of the experiment is to see the effect on bridge models once the individual cord members’ orientation was been changed. To determine the effect of the orientation changes, two trapezoid truss bridges models were made. Each bridge was built exactly the same with the only difference being the orientation of the cord members. The models were constructed from 24” long Bass wood pieces that were cut into the needed sizes then hot glued together to create the truss (one side of a truss bridge). The 2 trusses were then attached to form a bridge. Once both bridges where made they were inserted in to a Testing Apparatus, at the Greenville Tech. College, one at a time. The Testing Apparatus is a machine used by the college to tell how much weight a bridge or other structure could handle before breaking. A white rectangular rod with a depression in the center was placed on the road way of the bridge and a metal rod was placed in the depression. The metal rod continued to add pressure until the bridge broke. The hypothesis for the experiment, based on the evidence, was that the vertical orientation model would work the best. No conclusion has yet been reached due to additional testing being needed.
