As part of the Oxford Brookes Creative Industries Day (5 May 2016), we invited some local schools to build (reinforce) and test some bridges in our Technology Lab. First of all the brief:
Bracing Collapses
Task: A basic structure will be provided to bridge a gap of 1080 mm; it will be required to support 5 kg in stable equilibrium but will be tested to destruction. Each group will be able to spend 30 minutes making the basic structure (which will be far too weak as provided) stronger. The basic structures will be made from corrugated plastic sheeting - in essence a an upside down trough 140 mm wide with each side 80mm deep, bent downwards, and about 4 rectangular pieces of corrugated plastic glued into position to maintain the shape.
Materials/tools will be provided to strengthen the basic shape: more of the corrugated plastic material; polythene sheeting for binding and to provide any tension elements needed for the structure and glue guns/sticks.
Testing will be carried out under the supervision of staff; each structure will be weighed and tested; the winning structure will be the one which takes the maximum load supported - minus the weight gain of the structure over and above the weight of the basic structure.
The teams were from The Oxford Academy, Gosford Hill School, Oxford Spires Academy, Cheney School and The Bicester School.
Next some photos of the reinforcement work (followed by the videos of collapsing bridges, so keep reading)...
Next came the testing (this video shows all the bridges being tested, for individual videos (at a slower pace) click on the school: The Oxford Academy, Gosford Hill School, Oxford Spires Academy, Cheney School and The Bicester School)...
The session finished with a talk about Building Information Modelling (BIM) from Henry Abanda...
If you are interested in studying construction at Oxford Brookes University, take a look at our web page.
Bracing Collapses
Task: A basic structure will be provided to bridge a gap of 1080 mm; it will be required to support 5 kg in stable equilibrium but will be tested to destruction. Each group will be able to spend 30 minutes making the basic structure (which will be far too weak as provided) stronger. The basic structures will be made from corrugated plastic sheeting - in essence a an upside down trough 140 mm wide with each side 80mm deep, bent downwards, and about 4 rectangular pieces of corrugated plastic glued into position to maintain the shape.
Materials/tools will be provided to strengthen the basic shape: more of the corrugated plastic material; polythene sheeting for binding and to provide any tension elements needed for the structure and glue guns/sticks.
Testing will be carried out under the supervision of staff; each structure will be weighed and tested; the winning structure will be the one which takes the maximum load supported - minus the weight gain of the structure over and above the weight of the basic structure.
The teams were from The Oxford Academy, Gosford Hill School, Oxford Spires Academy, Cheney School and The Bicester School.
Next some photos of the reinforcement work (followed by the videos of collapsing bridges, so keep reading)...
Next came the testing (this video shows all the bridges being tested, for individual videos (at a slower pace) click on the school: The Oxford Academy, Gosford Hill School, Oxford Spires Academy, Cheney School and The Bicester School)...
The session finished with a talk about Building Information Modelling (BIM) from Henry Abanda...
If you are interested in studying construction at Oxford Brookes University, take a look at our web page.
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