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Structures and Defying Gravity

The document provides an overview of structures throughout history including their materials and engineering. It discusses some of the earliest and tallest structures such as the Great Pyramid in Egypt and Eiffel Tower in France. Engineering mistakes on structures in Shanghai and Paris are also mentioned. Different materials that structures have been built from are reviewed including glass, brick, wood, cast iron, and stone. Engineering concepts of compression, tension, and bending are examined in the context of historic structures like the Parthenon, Stonehenge, and Roman aqueducts. Form-resistant structures that use cylinders, domes, and folded plates are discussed.

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29 views

Structures and Defying Gravity

The document provides an overview of structures throughout history including their materials and engineering. It discusses some of the earliest and tallest structures such as the Great Pyramid in Egypt and Eiffel Tower in France. Engineering mistakes on structures in Shanghai and Paris are also mentioned. Different materials that structures have been built from are reviewed including glass, brick, wood, cast iron, and stone. Engineering concepts of compression, tension, and bending are examined in the context of historic structures like the Parthenon, Stonehenge, and Roman aqueducts. Form-resistant structures that use cylinders, domes, and folded plates are discussed.

Uploaded by

draqbhatti
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Structures and Defying Gravity

viaduct, France (2005)


Cable-stayed design, 2.5 Km long, 340m high

A brief history of structures

Great pyramid, Egypt (2560BC)


Height: 139m

Lincoln cathedral, England


(1300) Height: 160m

A brief history of structures (cont.)

Eiffel tower, France (1889)


Height: 384m

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur (1998)


Height: 452m

Some engineering mistakes

Shanghai-2009

Engineering mistakes (cont.)

Montparnasse, Paris 1895

(different kind of engineering)

Materials

Glass: Crystal Cathedral, California


Brick: Vilnius Cathedral

Materials (cont.)

Wood: Borgund, Norway (about 1180)


Cast iron: Arica, Chile

Materials (cont.)

Stone: Notre Dame, Paris

Steel: All-steel Basilica San Sebastian,


Philippines. (2nd steel structure after the
Eiffel Tower

More materials--spaghetti?

Compression? Tension? Bending?

Compression?
Tension?

Structure in stone-- Compression? Tension?

The Parthenon, Greece (447BC)

Stonehenge, England (~1400BC)

Compression? Tension?

Roman arch--Pont du Gard,


France (100AD)

http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/learning_modules/maths/02.TU.03/?section=4

Arches--all in compression

Thicker is better in bending and compression

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

A long thin piece will


bend

but short thin pieces can be connected together to


form a long thick truss (very strong)

Trusses within trusses within trusses

Form-resistant structures:
cylinders, domes, saddles

Pantheon, Rome (126AD)


Pavilion, Mexico City (concrete
roof 1.6cm thick)

Outdoor market, Morocco


(glass)

Form-resistant structures:

folded plates

Tensegrity

Readable references
Gordon, J. E., Structures, Da Capo Press, 2003

Levy, Matthys, and M. Salvadori, Why Buildings Fall


Down, W.W. Norton & Co., 1992

Salvadori, Mario, Why Buildings Stand Up,


W.W. Norton & Co., 1990

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