Scribd
Upload
46 views

Will My Building Withstand Eq 2013

If a structure of 15 centimeters tall can withstand an earthquake, what design strategies will keep it safe? cross bracing, using a wide base, anchoring, a low center of gravity, rigid frame, or flexible frame will be the most important factor in keeping it safe and minimizing damage. The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco is stronger than required by the city's building code.

Uploaded by

api-208388171
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
46 views

Will My Building Withstand Eq 2013

If a structure of 15 centimeters tall can withstand an earthquake, what design strategies will keep it safe? cross bracing, using a wide base, anchoring, a low center of gravity, rigid frame, or flexible frame will be the most important factor in keeping it safe and minimizing damage. The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco is stronger than required by the city's building code.

Uploaded by

api-208388171
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Assignment #23 Name: James Akashi Period: Science-7 Date: February 26, 2013

www.inhabitant.com/image

Will My Building Withstand an Earthquake? Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was an innovator in designing buildings that could withstand earthquakes. For example, Wright designed the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, which withstood that citys severe 1923 earthquake with only minor damage. Many modern cities located in earthquake prone areas have enacted building codes designed to reduce damage to structures, thereby reducing the incidents of injury or death. Architects often go beyond these safety codes to ensure public safety. For example, the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco is stronger than required by the citys building code. It also has features built into its base that are designed to dramatically reduce how much the building will sway during an earthquake.

Problem: What design strategies keep structures safe in an earthquake? Hypothesis: If my structure of 15 centimeters tall can withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of using anchoring (cross bracing, using a wide base, anchoring, a low center of gravity, rigid frame, or flexible frame) will be the most important factor in keeping it safe and minimizing damage. Materials: 40 Toothpicks 5 mini marshmallows or 25 grams of clay Sheet of paper (to build structure on and put names and group number on) Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Make your hypothesis if you havent already done so. On the back or bottom of this sheet, sketch a plan how you and your partner are going to build your structure. How are you going to use the materials? Draw an example of your structure. Have the teacher check and sign off on your drawing. Before you start building get a group number 13 . Once the teacher has given you your group number, you may start building your model. After you have finished making your model, fill out the data table for your group below. Place your model on the counter with a piece of paper underneath it and be sure your names and group number are on it. Collect data from all the other groups so that your data table is filled out. Results: Class Data Table for Period #7 Group Height of Width of # of Anchored to Low # model base cross the paper (yes center of (centimeters) (centimeters) braces or no) gravity (majorit y of the mass is lower than halfway down (yes or no) Rigid (clay) or Flexible (marshmallow) (choose one) Time lasted on the shake table (seconds)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7.9 17.5 12.5 16.2 17.5 24.0 13.0 14.0 6.5 19.5

5.1 6.5 6.0 2.8 6.5 6.5 6.0 6.5 2.5 6.8

1 4 5 0 8 3 1 0 0 8

No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Rigid Flexible Flexible Rigid Flexible Flexible Flexible Flexible Rigid Rigid

6 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

11 12 13 14

9.5 14.5 6.4 15.2

6.5 7.7 4.4 6.0

4 4 0 0

No No No Yes

Yes Yes No Yes

Rigid Flexible Rigid Rigid

9 2 6 15

Observations of your model during shake test. (Must be qualitative and quantitative.) Two toothpicks fell off my structure. It broke in half. It lasted 6 seconds out of the 15 seconds. One clay chunk fell off. It shook and wiggled a lot. Six out of seven flexible structures lasted the 15 seconds. Most of the rigid ones didnt make it. Anchoring seems to always make the structures last to the very end. It was the single most important design strategy to withstand the earthquake.

Conclusion: According to the textbook on page 204-205, shear walls, cross braces, flexible pipes, base isolators, tension ties, and dampers are good because they all help reduce the earthquakes damage. In this lab, we built structures with design strategies that would try to withstand an earthquake. I hypothesized that having a low center of gravity would keep it standing. Over the course of 15 seconds, my structure lasted 6 seconds. Two toothpicks and one chunk of clay fell off of it. Ten of the fourteen structures lasted the whole fifteen seconds. Four out of the seven rigid ones lasted. All of the structures that used anchoring made it. Forty percent of the structures that made it were rigid. That means flexibility was better than rigid. Overall, the classs most valuable strategy was a flexible frame and anchoring. In conclusion my hypothesis was incorrect. It turns out anchoring was the most important factor in keeping the structures safe and minimizing damage during an earthquake.

You might also like