TDJ2O
Urara. M
Tower Design
Research.
Famous towers and challenges
Eiffel Tower and Leaning Tower of Pisa are one of the most famous towers in the world. However, when people were building these towers, they faced some challenges. Eiffel Tower went through many struggles as designers needed to change the design of the Eiffel Tower several times. During the time when the tower was built, iron was still rarer to be used than steel; so many engineers struggled to get desirable shape for constructing the tower. Leaning Tower of Pisa also experienced many struggles during the construction. When builders were working on the third floor of the tower, the ground could not hold the weight because it was most made up of mud and clay. Builders tried many things to stop the tower from tilting; however, nothing worked. Construction was once stopped as they finished the fourth floor for over a hundred years; however, after100 years, people started the construction again. At this point the tower was tilted by one centimeter every year.
Structural support for a tower
You can create structural support for a tower by making solid base. Also, many towers put material diagonally to main and horizontal legs. This is a method that is known as the strongest way to hold weight without using too many materials.
The Three main types of towers
The three main types of towers are tubular tower, laddered tower and triangular/rectangular frameworks towers. Tubular tower is the cost efficient, simple and as the basic structure is made out of tubular pipes, it is easy to adjust the height. The ladder tower is able to hold more weight than the tubular tower. Triangular/rectangular frameworks tower is not strong enough hold weight; however, it is cost efficient and light.
Constraints
I think you need to consider some constraints including materials, weather and surrounding environment. Materials that you use when building a tower is very important because the materials need to be changed and suited for tower’s purposes. Weather also needs to be taken as consideration because you need to choose right materials and structure to adapt to certain weather. Moreover, surrounding environment is important when you care building a tower because you want to build a tower that is well-adapted and enhances the beauty of surrounding environment.
The major cause of damage to a tower
The major cause of damage to a tower would be environmental issues. A tower can easily be affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricane and flood. Also, weather may be another factor that causes the tower to get damage. If the place where you build a tower is windy, it can create friction that causes damage to tower. Also, if the place has high precipitation rate and you use metal to build a tower, it can cause the metal to lust and get weaker easily.
How to withstand a heavy weight
I would use triangular or tubular shapes in my design mostly because these shapes are able to even out weight. Also, arch is a good shape to hold weight when the base is being bifurcated.
http://www.maurelma.ch/Produkte/Unterlagen/Wind/Mastenstellen.pdf
https://prezi.com/cknaqoff7m0q/the-struggle-of-building-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/
http://www.traveldudes.org/travel-tips/dazzling-story-behind-eiffel-tower/62134
Possible Solutions.
Pros
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Simple
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60 Popsicle sticks would be enough to build
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Diagonal support
Pros
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Arch
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Bifurcated base
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Diagonal support
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Large roof top
Pros
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Arch
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Diagonal support
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Large and strong base
Cons
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One standing
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Easy to fall
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Small roof top
Cons
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Complex
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Many Popsicle sticks required
Cons
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Complex
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Small roof top
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Mant Popsicle sticks required
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One standing
Prototypes.
Evaluate and Test the Best Solutions .
I chose the first and second design because I thought combining them into one design would be the best solution. At first, I decided to make a prototype of the second design since it has advantageous elements the most; however, the design looked more like a bridge. Whereas, the first design is too weak, but the base is shorter than the height. By cobining those two designs, both of the designs are able to cover and support flaws of each design that creates the best solution.
Our group chose the design we built because we thought that the design we chose is well structured, but does not require too much Popsicle sticks to work with. Moreover, it has large roof top and base which helps it to stand and hold weight in stable condition. While building the tower, we encountered some issues. One of the problems was that it was difficult to glue sticks together to get a box-like structure. At first, we decided to make squares separately and once four of them are completely dried, we glue all the four parts to make a box. However, it did not go well as we expected. Since sides of the square were not completely straight and even, it was imposssible to join four of the squares together. Therefore, we have decided to make and glue joints first to create the box-like structure. Moreover, another problem we faced was that there were not enough Popsicle sticks although we cut the sticks in half. We considered many solutions and after all, we decided to put two boxes as the base and the roof top and one box in the middle. In this way, the tower is able to hold the weight due to large base to stand andbig roof top to hold more than ten books. Due the thoughtful structure, the tower was able to hold about eleven books and the tower did not break. However, the tower was tilted which caused the books to slip off.
Redesign.
My group’s tower was successful to hold more than ten books. The tower did not break; however, the books slipped off since the tower was tilted. The tower held more weight than I anticipated which was successful. Since we did not have enough Popsicle sticks to work with, there is only one block in the middle. Also, I thought that the joints are not strong enough to hold ten books; however, the diagonal support made it possible to distribute the weight and stand. If I were to redesign this tower, I would create a design that as horizontal top and base. In order to achieve this, I need to be aware of the length of the Popsicle sticks. My group decided to cut Popsicle sticks in half because there were not enough sticks to work with. Although we measured the sticks to cut them in half, the length was not exact which caused the tower to tilt. As a result, I would keep the sticks to original length as much as possible. Moreover, it would help the tower to be stable if I use overlapped layers of Popsicle sticks. My group used the sticks vertically to give it height; however, it would be difficult to keep the top and the base horizontal and it is easier to break.