Amusing Ourselves Safely

Course Description

This course outlines the role of engineers in safeguarding the public, focusing on the techniques and designs
used to ensure the safety of what appears frivolous – amusement park rides and toys – in order to highlight the
importance of incorporating safety into design. It looks at essential design principles used to create the world’s
greatest roller coasters using the ASTM Standard F2291 Standard Practices for Design of Amusement Rides and
Devices. It then turns to toys, detailing the revolutionary design of several classic toys; discussing how the ASTM
Standard F1148 Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specifications for Home Playground Equipment applies
to designing a safe platform for children’s equipment; and studying ASTM F963 Standard Consumer Safety
Specifications for Toy Safety to show how to design toys for stability.

Chapters

• Chapter One: Engineering of Roller Coaster

• Chapter Two: Engineering Design Standards
• Chapter Three: The Engineering of Toys

Learning Objectives

After completion of this course, the participant will be able to:

• Understand the role of engineers in keeping the public safe
• Identify the elements employed to make roller coasters fail-safe
• Describe the phenomenon of vortex shedding
• Summarize the ASTM F24 Standards
• Apply ASTM F24 Standards to other engineering work
• Describe engineering toy standards
• Explain ASTM Standard F1148 as it applies to playground equipment

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 1

 Introduction
Chapter One: Engineering of
Roller Coasters In this course we will focus on the professional skills
and ethical behavior required of an engineer to ensure
the safety of the public, outlining engineers’ historical
role in order to highlight and give texture and con-
Overview
text to the role engineers play in society. There is also
thorough coverage of technical details and techniques
• Introduction
– whether they are the careful calculation needed to
• Historical Perspective
design a playground platform for children, or the fail-
• The Roller Coaster
safe redundancy of a high-tech roller coaster. These
• The World’s Greatest Roller Coaster Designers
can be abstracted and applied to any engineering proj-
• Roller Coaster Failure: Vortex Shedding
ect. Even where specific techniques aren’t directly ap-
• The Top Thrill Dragster
plicable, the examples used illustrate the proper ap-
• Summary
proach to safe engineering design.

Today every aspect of our lives is touched by an en-

Learning Objectives
gineered object; we live in a world filled with cell
phones, dishwashers, clothes dryers, automobiles, and
• Explain the role of engineers in keeping
planes. Imagine what would happen if any of these
the public safe
failed or did harm on a regular basis. So, it is clear that
• Determine the role of failure in design
engineers have an ethical duty to design safety into
• Identify the elements by which roller coasters
their products. But in addition to this notion of ethi-
are designed to be fail-safe
cal duty to be sure products do no harm; an engineer
• Describe the phenomenon of vortex shedding
needs the scientific and engineering knowledge to de-
sign safe objects. This course gives examples of this
engineering methodology.

By way of illustration, this course looks at devices

used during leisure time: amusement parks and toys.
This may seem lighthearted or even frivolous but, as
you will see, this study highlights how vital safety is.

As engineers, we like to celebrate achievements that

take one’s breath away, such as landing a man on the
moon, creating the world’s longest bridge, or con-
structing the world’s tallest skyscraper. At a deeper
level, we realize our essential role in providing the
necessities of life: clean water, afordable and safe en-
ergy, and durable shelter.

Looking at amusements might seem silly. Yet such di-

versions are a part of our human experience and will
always be an integral aspect of our existence. Visitors
to U.S. amusements parks get on and off a ride about
three billion times a year. Perhaps, then, our greatest
achievement might be that, today, a roller coaster is
so safe that insurance companies worry more about a
sprained ankle from the merry-go-round.
Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 2
 Historical Perspective Human nature has not changed: Many, if not most, of
the engineered objects in our lives are luxuries used for
For an engineer to focus on amusements for the public diversion and amusement. So, in this course we’ll start
is nothing new; engineers have always mixed the two. with roller coasters, looking at their history and how
For example, we think of the great aqueducts of Rome they work. Then we’ll see how the American Society
as providing water for life, yet the Romans didn’t ac- for Testing Materials (ASTM) Standards for Amuse-
tually need them; for washing, drinking, and much ment Parks is essential in keeping the public safe. Final-
of their irrigation they could use nearby springs and ly, we’ll look at toys. We’ll peer inside the engineering
wells. Yet the Romans built some of the most amazing of some of the most famous ones and also review how
engineered structures, the aqueducts, which transport- engineering standards are used to keep children safe.
ed water from miles away.

The Roller Coaster

Roller coasters originated from wooden carriages which

slid on ice and were built near St. Petersburg, Russia, in
the 17th century. In 1804, the French adapted such sleds
for use on a system of ramps. Eventually they evolved into
the engineering tour de forces that thrill millions today.

The engineer’s goal in designing a roller coaster is to use

gravity and acceleration to confuse and delight a rider.
The main thrill is the g-force, which is defined as the
Why? For the amusement of the public. Baths were changes in weight from acceleration. When the cars take
the key use for the water. Not bathing out of necessity, off, a rider feels about two and a half g’s, nearly what
but bathing as a social activity. the astronauts feel when the space shuttle launches. By
understanding these g-forces, engineers have been able
Romans made the baths with Imperial splendor: Six- to enhance riders’ thrills and prevent their deaths.
teen hundred seats of marble and walls covered with
mosaics or Egyptian granite, encrusted with green An early coaster called the “Flip-Flap” had the first loop-
marble. Water flowed from bright silver basins. The the-loop, which is a complete circle that turns riders up-
baths were not only a way to escape the blazing Medi- side down. Its designers understood g-forces so poorly
terranean summer, but places to meet and converse. that as the cars went around the loop they exerted twelve
Today we would compare them to coffee houses. Sen- g’s on the riders. Fighter jet pilots usually black out at
eca, a leading intellectual in Rome, complained about ten g’s. This coaster occasionally snapped riders’ necks.
the noise; he objected to the splashing and roars of Today, we are able, of course, to calculate the forces on
bathers and the cries of sellers hawking their wares. an amusement park patron on every section of the track.
These baths, though, were “water pigs”, and so the
Romans had to build the aqueducts to supply them. Flip Flap

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 3

 But it is not only technical skill that creates a good ers in the history of amusement parks. They originally
roller coaster. Knowing some psychology also helps. worked for a Swiss amusement park ride manufactur-
Werner Stengel, one of the greatest coaster engineers, er, Intamin AG, before starting their own consultancy
notes: in 1990. They have designed and built now over 70
coasters. In the U.S. their rides include Vortex, Kum-
“You must keep the element of surprise. The track ba, the Raptor, Insane Speed, and the Manta.
must be unpredictable and intense. The ride must
keep the rider’s attention from beginning to end. Vortex
The minute a rider gets bored in a roller coaster,
you can blame that on a design error. You should
always have a first drop as deep as possible, and
some very nice ‘high-g’ moves.”

He explains further:

“A lot of different factors together make a ride

thrilling. A ride can have a wonderful first drop,
but the first drop isn’t the most important part of
the ride. You must keep the suspense in the ride,
even after the first drop. It is very important to
work with the element of surprise, and not only
with g-forces. A large first drop is wonderful. I’d
love to make a ride with a first drop of 100 meters
deep. But that is not what makes a ride thrilling. Raptor
A smooth, exciting and unpredictable lay-out is
what makes a ride thrilling.”

So, engineers have learned over the years it is best to

have a slow ascent on the first hill, and then dangle
people at the top before the great plunge. On that
plunge, engineers try to make cars go as straight down
as possible and appear to curl underneath, giving rid-
ers the impression they’re about to jump off the track.
A good roller coaster engineer also makes use of the
supporting structure. Sending a car close to a column
gives the impression of speed, and a classic coaster
trick is the fine del cap – Latin for “end of the head.”
By this they mean shooting the cars toward a horizon- Not surprisingly, the firm’s president, Walter Bolliger,
tal beam, then ducking at just the last moment. feels there cannot be too many coasters in the world,
but cautions that engineering expertise is needed every
step of the way. “I think we need to be careful in the
The World’s Greatest Roller design,” Bolliger says. “We need to have something
Coaster Designers very well balanced; what’s important is good balance
and the ride experience. I think there is still a lot which
Let’s take a look at the human face behind today’s can be done with coaster design.”
roller coaster. To those in the know, the names Bol-
liger & Mabillard are magical. This engineering duo B&M coasters are known for their smoothness. Bol-
is acknowledged as two of the greatest coaster design- liger explains how they achieve that: “It’s a lot of

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 4

 design,” he says. “It’s going in detail on the geometry
of the track, the geometry of the trains. To make sure
the fabrication is done in according to the drawings.
The precision of the manufacturing is one-sixteenth
of an inch. The elements are very precisely manufac-
tured.”

B&M dazzled riders with its first ride, the Iron Wolf,
an innovative stand-up roller coaster at Six Flags Great
America. Since then, they have continued to define the
cutting edge of coaster design; for example, the floor-
less roller coaster. VertiGo packed a powerful punch by zipping riders up
to nearly 300 feet in the air at a speed of 50 miles per
The Iron Wolf hour. Suspended on steel cables from three 265-foot
towers, the ride vehicle looked like an oversized trian-
gular shaped model rocket. It used compressed air to
launch a six-passenger car along the hair-raising ride.
Six passengers rode it in pairs, facing outward on the
vehicle’s three sides.

These unique vehicles allowed a rider to choose one

of three positions to enjoy the ride. The Hot Rocket
kept the riders upright and seated; the Cosmic Flip
kept them in an upright position for the ascent, but
as the ride reached its peak, the seats tipped forward
150 degrees to provide a “nose-dive” sensation for
the descent; and the Big Bang flipped riders forward
150 degrees shortly after launch and stayed that way
throughout the ride. Enhancing the thrill was that Ver-
A defining element of many B&M coasters is a “pre- tiGo used an innovative harness that held passengers
drop” – known in the industry as a “kicker.” Just after safely, yet left them feeling free and loose.
the top of the first lift hill, the coaster drops a short
amount. This thrills riders waiting for that great down- Three huge steel towers surrounded the “launch pad.”
ward plunge, but it also serves an engineering purpose. Steel cables attached to the vehicle hoisted the car
It reduces tension on the lift chain. A flat section after slowly a few feet in the air, and then compressed air
the first drop carries the weight of the passenger cars, “fired” the rocket by pulling it straight up it reached
reducing stress on the chain. Compare this to most almost 300 feet in the air. Riders could barely enjoy
coasters: as the first cars begin to drop, the chain is the magnificent view before they free-fell back to the
still lifting the back of the train. platform; stopping, of course, just before the concrete
floor. The problems with this ride could be found in
the three steel towers.
Roller Coaster Failure: Vortex Shedding
In January of 2002, the carriage and steel cables that
Roller coasters do fail, but engineers design them so, supported the ride had been removed from the struc-
at worst, they fail safe. VertiGo, a Cedar Point ride, ture for winter storage. It was then discovered one of
collapsed in early 2002, only a few months after its the three support poles had broken off about 65 feet
debut, when three of its steel support poles cracked. above the ground. An investigation revealed that the
cause was “vortex shedding.”

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 5

 Vortex shedding occurs in slow, steady winds over
long periods of time. Since Cedar Point is near Lake
Erie and often has cold temperatures, this type of wind
is not unusual. The effects of wind on a structure –
and the occurrence of vortex shedding – depend on the
cross-sectional shape of the structure, its vibrational
modes, and also the degree of damping. If the wind
speeds are such that the frequencies of its vortices
match any of the structural modes, these can be ampli-
fied and excited within the structure. At low Reynolds numbers, the fluid flows smoothly
around the object. As the Reynolds number increases
In fact, while the breaking of the first pole was unob- to about 4, the flow separates downstream from the
served, a second was seen to break. Engineers observed it object. The resultant wake, though, is formed by two
oscillating with amplitude of about fifteen feet. Note that symmetrical eddies. Then, as the Reynolds number
VertiGo, like most coasters, was designed to withstand gets larger (greater than 47), vortices are created at the
winds of up to 80 miles per hour. Yet on the day the pole back of the body and detach periodically from either
oscillated, the winds were only about 10 miles per hour. side of the body. This creates alternating low-pressure
vortices on the downstream side of the object. These
Several prominent engineers think this same phe- force the object to move toward the low-pressure
nomenon caused the famous collapse of the Tacoma zone. If the frequency of vortex shedding matches the
Narrows Bridge near Puget Sound. (Others ascribe resonance frequency of the structure, then the struc-
the failure to aero-elastic flutter.) Opened to traffic on ture will resonate, and the movement will become
July 1st, 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was the self-sustaining.
third-longest suspension bridge in the United States at
the time, with a length of just over a mile. Because of The Strouhal number (S) helps to determine when vor-
design flaws, the bridge frequently experienced roll- tex shedding will take place. The frequency at which
ing wind-driven undulations; in fact, locals gave it the vortex shedding takes place for a cylinder can be de-
moniker “Galloping Gertie.” On November 7, 1940, rived using the following equation:
strong winds excited the bridge’s transverse vibration
mode, with amplitude of 1.5 feet. This motion lasted S = f D/V
three hours, until the bridge collapsed.
Where f is the vortex shedding frequency, D is the di-
ameter of the cylinder, and V is the flow velocity. The
Strouhal number depends on the body shape and on
the Reynolds number. Empirical relationships have
been derived for other shapes.

The Top Thrill Dragster

Let’s take a detailed look at the engineering of a mod-

ern-day roller coaster. The Top Thrill Dragster at Ce-
dar Point is an amazing engineering achievement. En-
gineers prepared over 1,000 blueprints in three years
to design the Dragster. It used 90 truckloads of steel,
which traveled by boat, train, and truck from Europe
Vortex shedding can also occur when a fluid flows past to Ohio. Two hundred workers anchored the massive
a blunt object. See Figure 1-101 below. structure in 149 footers which used 9,000 cubic yards
of concrete and over 5,000 bolts hold the framework
Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 6
 together. Then, to make the complex electrical system require little maintenance. LM-powered coasters es-
engineers strung more than 100 miles of electrical ca- sentially ride a magnetic wave down a track; metal
ble, all to create a very peculiar roller coaster. fins on the bottom of the train are propelled by stator
coils along the track. But the engineers determined that
such motors could not provide quite the acceleration;
the coaster would have needed a longer approach to
the hill. This would require Cedar Point, which is built
on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie, to use up
precious land. Additionally, they would have incurred
expenses in relocating or even removing other rides.
Instead, they turned to a hydraulic system.

The hydraulics at the heart of the Top Thrill Dragster ac-

celerates a 15,000 pound coaster train from zero to 120
Unlike conventional coasters, the Top Thrill Dragster mph in four seconds. This is essentially the same tech-
doesn’t start slow, it has no clackety-clack climb, and nology used for stamping presses, and used for the same
no scenery on the way: Sixteen passengers in a car reasons: an applied force can be controlled precisely.
are shot out of the gate, reaching 120 miles per hour
in four seconds. They zip up a 420-foot hill, rotate 90 The hydraulic launch system transmits about 10,000
degrees, crest the top – losing all momentum right at horsepower to accelerate the coaster. A hydraulic sys-
the peak – then plunge back down. The complete ride tem is ideal because the power is needed for only a
takes less than 30 seconds! few minutes. Hydraulics can store huge amounts of
energy and release them in a rapid but controlled
Let’s look at the extensive engineering that goes into manner. Two identical sets of sixteen hydraulic mo-
those 30 thrilling seconds. tors drive an internal ring gear. This pair of ring gears,
in turn, drives a dual-input planetary gearbox, which
Hydraulic System drives a sheave that pulls a cable to launch the coaster.
Traditional roller coasters gradually ascend a hill so The cable is wound onto drums turning at 500 revolu-
they can build up enough potential energy to coast up tions per minute. Fluid to the motors flows through a
and down the remaining track. The designers of this two-inch, six-wire house and is returned with a six-
coaster chose to have the car burst out of the gate in- inch hose to minimize pressure drop.
stead.
The system operates at about 4,500 psi with a peak
They considered high acceleration linear induction of 10,000 hp. This means that total flow to the pumps
motors (LM), which would be extremely efficient and must be about 3,650 gallons per minute. That is over
Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 7
 100 gpm for each pump, which is too hefty, so the the way as the train blasts off, snapping back into place
pump-motor combination uses a piston-type accu- immediately in case the train returns. The permanent
mulator and gas pressure vessels. These supply most magnets make for a fail-safe system. If power fails,
of the flow for the four-second launch. Right before they are actuated pneumatically into position so that it
launch, each of the 32 pumps forces oil into the wet requires an electrical signal to move the magnets out
side of an accumulator. This volume pushes back the of the way. Thus the brakes are automatically in posi-
piston and forces nitrogen into the dry side and into tion to stop the coaster.
the gas bottle. Because the volume of the gas bottles
is fixed, the pressure of the nitrogen increases. The G-Forces
nitrogen compresses and acts like a spring, while the Unlike earlier rides, the Top Thrill Dragster’s g-forces
hydraulic oil acts like potential energy. It takes less are carefully calibrated. Using the methods set out by
than a minute for the gas bottles to get a full charge. the ASTM Standards, they are first measured using
water-filled crash test dummies that simulate the aver-
Design of the Ride age weight of riders. These are equipped with accel-
The hydraulics impart just enough momentum so the erometers to measure the effects on the human body,
Dragster can make it over the top. Unlike a regular even though they were very well understood at the de-
roller coaster, the Dragster has no anti-rollback devic- sign phase. It would seem that rising 420 feet in a few
es. Instead, it is designed to roll backwards if it doesn’t seconds, twisting, and then descending would have
get enough “oomph” from the hydraulics. The Drag- exerted lethal g-forces, yet the Dragster is so cleverly
ster is just one large “up and down” ride, so rather than designed that riders feel about the equivalent of jump-
have cars stuck at the top, some 420 feet in the air, it ing on a pogo stick. The key to safe g-forces is dura-
is designed so the cars are not stable at the top; they tion and direction. For example, on this coaster riders
either roll back or continue the ride and finish. (Many might feel 4 to 4.5 g’s, but only for a fraction of a sec-
riders feel lucky if they roll back downhill because ond. They are well inside the limits set by the ASTM.
they get to ride all over again.)
In the next chapter we will look carefully at how the
At the top are three sensors spaced a known distance ASTM Standard for amusement park rides is used.
apart, so the speed of the ride can be calculated for ev-
ery trip. The impulse needed at the beginning can vary
because of weather conditions. So, using the average Summary
of the last three trips, a computer calculates whether
the ride has been too slow or too fast and then adjusts Our first chapter outlined the role of engineers in safe-
the speed of the next launch. It can happen that three guarding the public, focusing on the techniques and
cars full of lightweight riders are followed by a car of designs used to ensure that what appears frivolous –
heavyweights. In that case, the coaster likely wouldn’t amusement park rides – are safe for public use. We
make it up the hill. This, though, rarely happens, much examined the history of the roller coaster, noting that
more likely is a change in environmental conditions; many early roller coasters had severe design flaws. We
heat or rain, for example. discussed the essential design principles used in creat-
ing the world’s greatest coasters. Next we turned to
Stopping the Top Thrill Dragster the modern-day failure of a coaster, that is, the vortex
A permanent magnet braking system decelerates and shedding of a Cedar Point ride. We closed by taking a
stops the train at the end of the ride. (There is an iden- careful and detailed look at the safety systems on the
tical system at the launch in case a train slips back.) Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point.
This type of braking system is essential because a con-
ventional system would give passengers too much of
a jolt. Each car has copper fins that fit into the slots of
the permanent magnets underneath the tracks. When
ready to launch, pneumatics pop the magnets out of

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 8

 Introduction
Chapter Two: Engineering
Design Standards In the previous chapter we outlined the engineering of
roller coasters, particularly the Top Thrill Dragster. In
this chapter we will look at how the ASTM Standard
F2291 Standard Practice for Design of Amusement
Overview
Rides and Devices tackles these issues. We’ll look at
some of the design standards for the coasters them-
• Introduction
selves, but also at the many ways – unsuspected by the
• ASTM Committee F24
thrill-seeking public – that engineers make that trip to
• Waiting In Line
the amusement park safe. Some ways may seem mun-
• Acceleration
dane, but slipping on a step or falling over a guardrail
• Safe Construction
is not inconsequential, if it results in injury.
• Standards for Metal Framework
• Summary

ASTM Committee F24

Learning Objectives
The ASTM Committee F24 puts this standard togeth-
er. One might think their motto is “Billions of Happy
• Summarize the ASTM F24 Standards
Screams.” This committee started to really push the
• Apply ASTM F24 standards to other
envelope for setting standards when it formed in 1978,
engineering work
paving the way for the truly innovative and exciting
• Distinguish the limits of acceleration in
new amusement park rides we enjoy today. The com-
a roller coaster
mittee has about 500 members who currently have ju-
• Show how to use the ACI Standard 318
risdiction over 17 ASTM Standards. The committee
to design a footer
consists of manufacturers, coaster operators, and those
• Apply the ASTM Standards for the appropriate
with a general interest in coaster safety. The scope of
level of safety for a metal framework
the Committee is in developing standard methods
of testing, performance specifications, definitions,
maintenance, operations, and practices and guides for
amusement rides and devices to ensure enjoyable and
safe diversions for the public.

Waiting in Line

During peak season at any popular park, a patron may

wait an hour or more for one of the bigger, bolder roll-
er coasters. Waiting in line seems mundane but in an
amusement park, patrons are crowded together, eager
to ride a coaster, perhaps angry at the wait and tired
from the “sun and fun.” This creates a potent mix that
can result in injury.

Fencing, guardrails, and handrails must be designed to

prevent patrons from falling as they approach a ride.
Typically, the entrance to a ride is elevated and a pa-
tron slowly walks uphill in line to the ride’s entrance.

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 9

 The ASTM Standard recommends that guardrails be tive and negative x, y and z, where z aligns with pull
no less than 42 inches high to keep patrons from con- of gravity. (See Figure 2.)
tacting the coaster and from falling over the edge.
Guardrails also must be built with openings small
enough that a four-inch-diameter sphere will not fit
through them. (See Figure 1.)

Source: ASTM Standard F2291 Standard Practice for Source: ASTM Standard F2137 Standard Practice for
Design of Amusement Rides and Devices Measuring the Dynamic Characteristics of Amusement
Rides and Devices
The triangular openings formed by riser, tread, and
fence need to be small enough that a six-inch sphere They designate acceleration along the z axis as “eyes
cannot fit through them. up” for negatives g’s and “eyes down” for positive g’s.
Let’s look for a moment at the limits for a roller coaster.

Acceleration Figure 3 shows the allowed reversals from -Gz (eyes

up) to +Gz (eyes down).
In the first chapter of this course we noted the limits on
acceleration set by the ASTM Standard. The inclusion
of acceleration standards is unique. Even though the
committee formed in 1978, the g-force limits took root
only in 1987. While discussing them, members of the
sub-committee in charge of drafting the acceleration
standard realized it would not mean much unless they
also specified how acceleration was to be measured.
So they developed ASTM F2137 Standard Practice
for Measuring the Dynamic Characteristics of Amuse-
ment Rides and Devices. This standard provides ex-
perts around the world with a common language and
also allows detailed comparisons from year to year
and from ride to ride. Source: ASTM Standard F2137 Standard Practice for
Measuring the Dynamic Characteristics of Amusement
ASTM F2137 states, for a ride where patrons (with an Rides and Devices
average weight of 150 pounds each) are seated, the ac-
celerometer must be between 13 and 16 inches above It is acceptable to change from zero (at the peak for
the seat and 3 to 5 inches behind the upper torso con- some rides) to 2g in 200 ms. A further increase would
tact surface. The key isn’t just the magnitude of the require a 133 ms pause. Generally coasters, as indi-
acceleration, but also its duration and direction. The cated by the rightmost graph in Figure 3, use about
standard looks at acceleration in six directions; posi- 15g/sec as an acceptable limit.

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 10

 Safe Construction Thus, the required base area for the footing is:

An amusement park ride is, of course, seated in the Af = (400 + 200)/3.75 = 160 square feet
ground, usually with concrete. The ASTM Standard
F2291 suggests that the concrete meet the criteria laid which is about 13 feet by 13 feet (169 ft2).
out in the American Concrete Institute’s (ACI) Stan-
dard 301 or 318. (These are good standards for an en- In order to determine the proper depth of such a
gineer to become familiar with.) Obviously a key to a footing, ACI 318 requires an estimation of the shear
safe coaster is that it stays in the ground! ACI 318 is a strength by treating the action on the footings in two
long and complicated standard, and here we will look ways. First, using wide-beam action; that is, assuming
at just one aspect: footings. the footing acts as a wide beam with a critical section
across its entire width. Second, assuming two-way
Footings action for the footing, which checks for “punching”
As we’ve noted, roller coasters typically are set in shear strength. The final design depends on which type
concrete footings. The ACI Standard spells out how to of action is most severe. Rarely does the wide-beam
design the base area of a footing to support a particular action control the shear strength, but still an engineer
load. (See Figure 4.) must be sure the beam action strength associated with
this action is not exceeded.

Wide Beam Action

The calculation begins with estimating the factored
loads and the soil reaction. The Standard uses the
idea of “required strength” (U) which is calculated
by combining the service loads according to factors.
Specifically, equations 9-1 to 9-7 of ACI 318-05 (the
2005 version of the code) show various ways this can
be calculated. It spells out carefully which equation
to use; for our example we’ll use equation 9-1 of the
Source: ACI 318: Building Code Requirements for Standard:
Structural Concrete and Commentary (American Concrete
Institute 2005) U = 1.4 (D + F)

For the situation shown in this figure, the service dead where D is service dead load and F is service live load.
load is 400 kips; the service live load is 200 kips; and For our example, this means:
the service surcharge (from the soil) is 100 psf. We’ll
use a typical value for the weight of soil and concrete
above the footing base of 130 pcf (pounds per cubic
foot). For this area the permissible soil pressure is 4.5 The soil reaction then, is:
ksf and the column is 35 inches by 15 inches. Using
these values, we can calculate the base area.

We first make a calculation using unfactored service We then calculate the shear strength required for wide-
loads. The total weight from the surcharge is: beam action. To make these calculations, the engineer
usually chooses a typical depth and average effective
(0.130 x 5) + 0.1 = 0.750 ksf thickness, based on experience or on the standard prac-
tice of a particular engineering firm, and then checks
The net permissible soil pressure is then: to be sure the shear force is less than effective shear
strength. For this example we’ll use an overall footing
4.5 - 0.75 = 3.75 ksf thickness of 35 inches, assuming an average effective
Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 11
 thickness of 30 inches (2.5 feet). We then need to compare this to the shear strength for
the concrete, which can be calculated using:
We first calculate the factored shear force using

where is the shear reduction factor, which section

For the wide beam, we use the area indicated in Figure 5. C.3.2.3 of the codes assigns a value of 0.85 for causes
of “shear and torsion.”

is the compressive strength of concrete; we’ll use

a typical value of 3,000 psi.

is the width of the critical area for the wide beam; in

this case, 13 feet (156 inches - the width of the footing).

d is the effective thickness (30 inches, or 2.5 feet).

Using these numbers yields shear strength of:

= 435.7 kpis

Note that the shear strength is greater than that calcu-

lated by wide beam action.

435.7 > 218 kips

This thickness is acceptable. Next we must check the

two-way action.

One side of this area is simply the length L (13 feet in Two- Way Action
this case); the other side is calculated using the size of Calculating two-way action is a little more complicat-
the column and the depth. (Note that the depth is used ed. As before, we start with the factored shear force,
as a parameter for sizing the area; the actual depth but use a different area. In this case we use the area
would, of course, be into the page in Figure 5.) designated in Figure 5: the area of the footing minus
a critical section with sides of lengths and
; that is, an area larger than the column by
the thickness d in each dimension.

For this example, this is:

Note that this is calculated using the smaller dimen-
sion of the column; this gives a larger area and hence
a greater shear.

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 12

 Thus, Standards for Metal Framework

A roller coaster such as the Top Thrill Dragster is

held in place by a massive metal framework. To en-
We must, of course, compare this to the proper shear sure an appropriate level of safety and longevity of
strength of the concrete, designated as . In this this support system, ASTM Standard F2991 suggests
case we need to make three separate calculations and using the mean fatigue property data downgraded by
choose the minimum of them. ACI 318-05 (the 2005 two standard deviations when doing design calcula-
version of the code, which is the most current as this is tions. Often, a two-standard deviation reduction from
written) lists equations 11-33, 11-34, and 11-35 the mean fatigue strength based on rigorous statistical
analysis cannot be done; in lieu of that, the Standard
recommends using an alternative method based on a
strength reduction factor. Because of the larger uncer-
tainty associated with the “reliability factor” approach
as compared to rigorous statistical analysis, the Stan-
dard recommends using a reliability factor of 0.75,
Where which is associated with three-standard deviations;
i.e., 99.9% reliability.
is a perimeter for the critical section of slabs and
footings, its calculation using: To be reliable, the ASTM Standard requires the de-
sign to use a 35,000 operational hour criteria. This
means all of the primary structures of a ride – track,
columns, hubs, etc. – must be designed such that
For our column, this is: they will operate for a minimum of 35,000 hours.
The goal here is to ensure that an engineer has de-
= 2(35 + 15) + 4*30 = 197 signed all the main structures of an amusement park
ride for at least a minimum fatigue life. As you can
is the ratio of the long side to imagine, the notion of an “operational hour” needs
the short side of the column to be carefully defined. Obviously, there often is a
great deal of time when a park is closed and the ride
is 40 for interior columns, 30 for edge columns, is not operating. Beyond this common-sense idea,
and 20 for corner columns. (We’ll assume an interior the batch nature of roller coaster rides implies that a
column.) ride isn’t being continuously fatigued, even during
a busy day. So, the “operational hours” are allowed
Thus, for our column the three possibilities are: to be reduced by accounting for the loading and un-
loading of patrons.

The ASTM Standards limit this to a maximum of 50%

of the 35,000 operational hours. To calculate the gen-
eral time reduction for loading and unloading, an en-
The governing value is 3.71; thus: gineer uses:

(Total load/unload time for one ride cycle) / [(To-

tal load/unload for one ride cycle) + (Time for one
ride cycle)]

Again, the factored shear strength is less than the cal- Then to determine the operational hours to be used in
culated shear. So, the depth of the footing meets code. design calculations, the engineer uses:

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 13

 [(35,000 operational hours) x (1.00 - general
reduction for load/unload times]

For example, the Top Thrill Dragster takes about five

minutes to load, and then has an incredible 30-second
ride. The general reduction in operational hours is

(5 min)/(5 min + 1/2 min) = 0.90

Thus, the operational hours used for design are:

(35,000)(1.00 -0.90) = 3,500 hours.

Summary

In this chapter we looked at ASTM Standard F2291

Standard Practices for Design of Amusement Rides
and Devices. We examined specific design issues of
roller coasters: Designing safe waiting areas for park
visitors, the limits of acceleration on a roller coaster,
the ACI 318 Standard’s criteria for a concrete footer,
and the longevity and safety of the metal framework
used to hold up a coaster were all discussed.

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 14

 Introduction
Chapter Three:
The Engineering of Toys In 1960, many children loved the Zulu Toy. Although
politically incorrect today, it was a peashooter of sorts,
a mouth-powered way to shoot plastic darts. Its black
Overview plastic tube was about as long as a stick ballpoint pen
, and perhaps, just a little thicker. It cost a dime and
• Introduction came with three, one-inch rubber darts, each with a suc-
• Standards for Toys tion cup on the end. It foreshadowed the caution of Ral-
• Engineering Secrets of Toys phie’s mother in the movie “The Christmas Story”: She
• ASTM Standards that Apply to Safety of Children wouldn’t buy him a toy rifle because, she said, “You’ll
• Summary shoot your eye out.” In a classic life-follows-fiction
tale, soon after the release of the Zulu Gun emergency
rooms saw a surge in accidental ingestion of plastic
Learning Objectives darts. In 1969, it was one of eight toys banned by Na-
tional Commission on Product Safety. Today, when we
• Identify the essential role of engineers in ensuring watch Ralphie’s mother admonish him to be careful it
the safety of children seems amusing, only because we’ve become so accus-
• Describe how the engineering toy standards have tomed to having safe toys for children.
come about
• Explain how toys are designed
• Describe the details of ASTM Standard F1148 ,
which applies to playground equipment

Safe toys, though, were developed only after World

War II. In the first half of the 20th century, children
had very few toys and most were homemade. The eco-
nomic boom after the War created an enormous mar-
ket for toys. Five thousand new ones appeared every
year; in fact, by 1972 150,000 toys were on the mar-
ket. Manufacturers with a poor understanding of the
behavior and even typical physical dimensions of a
child filled the market with dangerous toys.

For example, in 1955 New York banned fake Davy

Crockett coonskin caps, and rightly so; because they
were made of shredded paper, the caps could burst
into flame “in seconds after the most casual exposure
to a live cigarette or to any spark,” as the New York
Director of Safety to the State’s fire chiefs said.

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 15

 Standards for Toys ball of “death” in the most popular type of pool. Al-
though the ultimate object of the game “Eight Ball” is
Since the 1981 Consumer Product Safety Act, the fed- to legally pocket the eight ball in a called pocket, it can
eral government has supported the development of only be done after all a player’s assigned balls have
voluntary standards whenever those standards will be been cleared from the table. The player who pockets it
effective in addressing a risk of injury. This gave im- any time before that time loses the game. The makers
petus to write the ASTM Standards that describe the of this toy built on these dire connections to design
essential principles for building safe toys. To me, they this simple, yet very popular children’s toy.
represent engineers’ great contribution to the safety
and welfare of our children.

This contribution is significant as the global retail toy

sales total over seventy billion dollars, and the U.S.
accounts for over 30% of this figure. The U.S. is also
the world’s largest toy producer. U.S.-based toy manu-
facturers develop more than half of toys sold around
the globe. This position of worldwide leadership in
manufacturing has propelled the U.S. toy industry to a The ball has a small window at the bottom. Hold this
leadership position in ensuring toy safety. window to the ground, ask a “yes” or “no” question,
wait 10 seconds, then turn the ball upside down and
In 1971, the U.S. toy industry association drafted a up pops an “answer” in the window. Sometimes the
comprehensive voluntary toy safety standard. Five ball responds, “Ask again later” or “Don’t count on
years later, in 1976, the trade association led a group it”, or “Outlook good.” This bare outline doesn’t begin
of pediatricians, national safety council, retail orga- to capture the attraction this toy had for children (and
nizations, and industry experts to publish a compre- I speak from personal experience), but the cold hard
hensive standard under the auspices of the National sales numbers do. To this day, about a million Magic 8
Bureau of Standards. The voluntary standard supple- Balls are still sold yearly.
ments the U.S. federal mandatory standards for toys.
Together, they cover more than 100 separate tests and Although the toy’s origins are shrouded in mystery, it
design specifications intended to reduce or eliminate appears a Cincinnati clairvoyant inspired this pseudo-
hazards to children from their toys. fortune telling device. She used a “Psychic Slate”, a
blackboard with a lid. The clairvoyant would snap
shut the blackboard and then ask it a question of inter-
Engineering Secrets of Toys est to her client. The board made squeaking noises,
so-called “spirit writing”; the psychic then opened the
Twenty years ago, as I was looking for some clever blackboard to reveal an answer. This device inspired
examples of engineering design and manufacturing, a her son to create the Magic 8 ball in the 1940s. It is es-
mechanical engineering colleague suggested I look at sentially a self-contained, but limited, “psychic slate.”
toys. He said they “cut the edge” in manufacturing in-
novation and design. He was right. Let’s look at how The psychic’s son partnered with his brother-in-law,
clever engineers have been in designing toys. We’ll Abe Bookman, and a few others to form a novelty
start with the Magic 8 Ball. company to build and market the Magic Eight Ball.
Bookman, who had graduated from the Ohio Mechan-
Magic 8 Ball ics Institute, was a meticulous genius. He patented
Many of us had a “Magic 8 Ball” when we were chil- a brilliant design for the ball, then called the “Syco-
dren. First introduced in the 1950s, the toy is an ap- Seer”, and billed it as a “Miracle home fortune teller.”
proximately four-inch diameter replica of a billiard In his patent, he called his invention a “Liquid Filled
ball, painted to look like an “eight ball” – the “black Dice Agitator”, which is a pretty good description of

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 16

 today’s ball. two gallons of water, and can drench an opponent up
to forty feet away – enough to send anyone crying to
Inside the ball is a tube filled with blue fluid; the rest mommy. It was invented by engineer Lonnie Johnson,
of the ball contains no fluid. Floating in this liquid is who worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. He’d de-
an icosahedron (a twenty-sided shape) which is only signed, for example, the power supplies for the Gali-
slightly less dense than the fluid. The icosahedron is leo space probe.
hollow, and is narrow enough to allow fluid to float
by it. Inscribed on the faces of this solid shape are 20 Lonnie Johnson
phrases that provide vague but “enlightening” answers
– at least, children consider them enlightening. A pro-
fessor of psychology from the University of Cincin-
nati provided the phrases for the magic ball. Half are
negative and vague, and half are affirmative. The liq-
uid is a mixture of alcohol and blue dye.

The cylinder contains three parts: 1) the cap; 2) the

main body; and 3) a bubble eliminator. The device
works because there is just enough air to form bubbles
which, when the ball is turned over, rise and cause
the liquid to shift and the icosahedron to twirl. Over One day, Lonnie was experimenting with a new type
the years, engineers have worked to refine the bubble of refrigerator that used water instead of freon. He
eliminator. hooked a nozzle to a faucet in his bathroom and, when
he turned on the water, it shot across the bathroom,
In earlier versions bubbles would obscure the view- making air currents so strong his shower curtain start-
ing port. In today’s Magic 8 Ball, the bubble elimi- ed to swirl. His first thought, and I quote him here,
nator collects the bubbles in the fluid, blocking their was, “Boy, this would really make the neatest water
return to the main body: When one turns the ball over gun.” His key squirt gun insight was to use pressur-
to get a new answer, bubbles inside will float to the ized air to drive the water through a narrow hole in the
top and pass through the hole in a funnel in the collec- nozzle.
tor, where they are then trapped. Only when the ball is
shaken can they re-enter the main chamber of the tube. “From that point”, Johnson said, building a high-tech
squirt gun “was an engineering problem.” Where the
Copyright © 1997-1999, Dan Egnor and Heath Hunnicutt engineering came in was to come up with a way that
“Magic 8-Ball” and “Tyco Toys, Inc.” are registered trademarks “a small kid would be able to pump the gun up to
of Tyco Toys, Inc., and are used without permission. Quotations a very high pressure.” Johnson went to work in his
from the Magic 8-Ball® are Copyright © by Tyco Toys, Inc. No home workshop.
affiliation exists between Tyco Toys, Inc., and this publication.
Opinions herein are solely those of the author. Other trademarks Using a small hobbyist’s lathe, he built a model out
are the property of their respective owners, and are used without of PVC pipe, an empty plastic Coke bottle, and Plexi-
permission. glass. Next came test marketing; he let his daughter,
age six, try it out on neighbors. The result was a great
Super Soaker Water Gun success, at least for her. Next, Johnson had to interest
It may be cliché to say of an invention, it takes a rock- a manufacturer.
et scientist to think of it, but it really did take one to
bring the squirt gun into the realm of high tech. I’m
speaking of the Super Soaker, the most popular toy
of the 1990s. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s been
described as “a squirt gun on steroids.” It holds some

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 17

 He first approached Daisy Manufacturing, the maker of
BB guns, but they passed on his idea after two years of
discussion. In 1989 Johnson met with the Larami Corpo-
ration. He walked into the meeting, opened his suitcase,
and pulled out his prototype of PVC tubing, Plexiglas
and plastic soda bottles. A split second later, he fired a
giant stream of water across the room. Larami’s presi-
dent had just one word: “Wow!” But would they sell? In
the past, a squirt gun sold for twenty-nine cents: Would
any one be willing to pay ten dollars for a squirt gun?
For two years Richard James worked to find the prop-
er length and tension so it could walk perfectly down
stairs. His wife, Betty, helped name this new spring.
Flipping through the directory, she came across a
word that meant “stealthy, sleek, and sinuous.” That
word was, of course, “slinky.”

The first year startled the industry. Sales took off when
Johnny Carson, on the Tonight Show, used a Super
Soaker to drench Ed McMahon. A year later, it was
the most popular water gun in American retail history,
sold not only by toy stores, but also by upscale adult
stores like Sharper Image. By the late 1990s, about
250 million Super Soakers had been sold – enough for
each person in the United States. By 1946, James had his Slinky ready to sell. On a
snowy day, he set off for Gimbels department store in
Slinky Philadelphia. His wife worried that no one would want
There is a song, a jingle, that’s recognized by a large a Slinky. She gave a friend a dollar to buy the first one,
percentage of American adults. It’s this: “It’s Slinky, so her husband wouldn’t feel bad. When Richard and
it’s Slinky, oh what a wonderful toy. It’s Slinky, it’s Betty James stepped off the elevator that day, they saw
Slinky, fun for a girl and boy.” Of course, that’s the across the sales floor a mass of people waving dollar
song for the slinky toy, a coil spring that “walks” bills. Within ninety minutes, they’d sold 400 Slinkys.
down steps. In 1943, Richard James, a naval engineer, For the next fifteen years, Slinky continued to sell
was developing a spring that could keep sensitive in- well. But Betty James saw little of the profit. Richard
struments aboard warships steady in rough seas. Acci- had, in her words, joined a “religious cult” and was
dentally, he knocked one of his test springs off a shelf. giving it all the profits. By 1960, he left his wife and
It crawled, coil by coil, to a lower shelf, then onto a family to join this group in Bolivia, never to return to
pile of books, finally coming to rest on a table. This so his family again. Betty took over the Slinky Company,
enchanted James that when he got home he said to his now nearly bankrupt, and turned it into a multimillion-
wife: “I think, if I could get the tension right, I could dollar enterprise.
make it walk.”

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 18

 The company uses the same machines that Betty’s Platforms
husband designed in 1945. No one has ever been able A platform forms the center of most home playground
to build better ones. So important are they to mak- equipment. It must, of course, support the weight of
ing Slinkys that no one is ever allowed to photograph several children playing and jumping all at the same
them, for fear foreign competitors could copy the ma- time. Specifically, the standard requires that a platform
chines and bootleg Slinkys. be able to be loaded vertically without shock, and the
total load shall remain for five minutes. When apply-
The machines make a Slinky in about ten seconds by ing the load, the platform is divided into four equal
coiling a sixty-three foot metal wire into eighty-nine quadrants, with the load calculated at five points: the
coils. When finished, the machine drops the slinky, center of each quadrant and the center of the platform.
which pops up, walks down a step, and steps into its (This is done whether the platform is square, round
own box. This isn’t just for fun. A slinky wound too or triangular.) These loads are calculated based on the
tight or too loose won’t walk down the step and into maximum number of users and the most likely largest
the box correctly, and is rejected. weights of such users. It is a two-step process:

Two hundred and fifty million Slinkys have walked into 1. Calculate the maximum number of users as follows:
their own boxes since 1945 and Slinky shows no signs
of slowing down. Sales have risen twenty-five percent
in the last several years. It’s likely a whole new genera-
tion will remember that Slinky jingle. where N is the maximum number of users and X
is the area of the maximum age user using Table 1
Certainly these toys have improved the human condi- “Structural Integrity Loading Chart.”
tion; they have helped us raise happy children. In ad-
dition, each has been designed with children’s safety 2. Using the maximum number of users, apply the
in mind. Let’s look now at specific areas where the load for two 95th percentile maximum age users
standards have helped improve children’s health, and and the balance for users in the 50th percentile
even prevent death. maximum age.

Table 1: Structural Integrity Loading Chart

ASTM Standards that Apply to Children
50th 95th Area
ASTM Standard F 1148 Standard Consumer Safety Age
Percentile, Percentile, occurred
(years)
Performance Specifications for Home Playground lbs lbs by user ft2
Equipment sets the safety specifications for home
playground equipment for use by children from eigh- 1.5 22.7 26.8 0.6
teen months to ten years of age. The cognitive abili- 2 28 29 0.7
ties and sizes of children vary greatly with age. The
3 32.8 42 0.8
purpose of this standard is not to eliminate parental
responsibility, but instead to remove possible hazards 4 35.36 43 0.8
that are not readily recognized by the public. The stan- 5 39.7 50 0.9
dards, build on years of work by engineers to identify
6 44.1 59 1.0
such hazards. They grew out of a Voluntary Product
Standard (1976), supervised by the National Bureau 7 50.5 69 1.1
of Standards, which is now the National Institute for 8 56.2 81 1.2
Standards and Technology (NIST). The standards
3 63.1 89 1.3
make clever use of the typical sizes of children in ar-
ticulating the size of things. Let’s look at how the stan- 10 70.5 105 1.4
dards make use of statistical data to ensure the health
and safety of children. Source: ASTM Standard F1148-03
Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 19
 For example, consider a piece of playground equip- Table 2: Height of Fifth Percentile Children (Values
ment with a 5-foot by 5-foot platform intended for use given for boys or girls, whichever is lower)
by children seven years or younger. The maximum
number of users would be: Age, years Height, inches

1 27

2 29

3 33
The maximum load to test with would then be
4 37
= 2 x 69 lbs (95th percentile weight) + 5 40
+ 19 x 50.5 lbs (50th percentile weight)
= 1097.5 lbs Source: ASTM Standard F963

Stabilization of Toys Table 3: Weight of 95th Percentile Children

This type of statistical information forms the core for (Values given for boys or girls, whichever is higher)
making all manner of toys safe. ASTM F 963 Stan-
dard Consumer Safety Specifications for Toy Safety Age, years Weight, lbs
uses similar data on height to specify the appropriate
design of toys for stability. For example, in any toy a 1 28
child can sit on or ride, the child’s feet must be able 2 29
to easily reach the ground for stabilization. If a ride-
3 42
on toy has a seat where the height of the seat from
the ground is one-third, or less than one-third, of the 4 49
height given in Table 2, there is no need for a stability 5 50
test as long as the child’s legs are unrestricted in their
sideways motion and can be used for stabilization. 6 59
Table 2 is made from the lower of these two numbers: 7 69
(1) the fifth percentile group of boys at each age, from
8 81
age one up to and including five years; (2) the fifth
percentile group for girls at each age, from age one up 9 89
to and including five years. 10 105

If the seat is higher than the values in this table, then 11 121
an engineer must do a test for stability. Namely, place 12 120
the toys on a smooth surface which is inclined, usual-
13 140
ly, 10 degrees to the horizontal. (If the child’s feet are
not accessible then it needs to be 15 degrees.) Then, 14 153
turn the steering mechanism to the position where it
Source: ASTM Standard F963
is most likely to tip and apply to the seat a static load
equal to the weight of a child in the 95th percentile
(see Table 3). The load must be applied in such a way Merry-Go-Rounds
that the height of its center of gravity is 8.7 +/- 0.5 in. While we’re on the playground, let’s look at what
The center of gravity for the load for all ride-ons will engineers have learned about making safe merry-
be secure both 1.7 inches rearward of the front-most go-rounds, as articulated in ASTM Standard F 1487
position of the seating area and 1.7 inches forward of Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification
the rear-most seating area. for Playground Equipment for Public Use. Over the
years, engineers have isolated the key features that

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 20

 make a merry-go-round reasonably safe, without kill-
ing all the fun.

Figure 1 outlines the key relationships to be used in

designing a chute.
First, it must be nearly circular: The minimum and
maximum radii must differ by no more than two inch-
es. This way, a young child can clearly see where to
stand in order not to get hit; a highly non-circular de-
vice would be very confusing. Second, the platform
must be continuous so there are no “pinch, crush, and
shear points.” The vertical clearance under the revolv-
ing wheel may be no less than nine inches. The move-
ment of the merry-go-round must match a child’s sim-
ple vision of how it would move; thus, no oscillations
and no up-and-down movement. Lastly, the speed of
the merry-go-round will be according to this formula:

where

Note: The rotation per minute formula is to be used only

for diameters less than 10.5 feet and the velocity formula
for diameters less than 13.0 feet.

Slides
Another area where attention must be given to safety
is slide chutes. Engineers must design these so a child Source: ASTM Standard F1148 Standard Consumer
does not easily fall from a height that could cause in- Safety Performance Specifications for Home Playground
jury. Equipment

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 21

 First, the height/length ratio must not exceed 0.577; force of a return spring, the point shall be identi-
otherwise, it will become too steep for a child to use fied as sharp.”
safely. In addition to the overall (“gross”) criteria,
there needs to be specification for how steep any sec- An example of such an apparatus is shown in Figure 2.
tion of the slide can be. The ASTM code recommends
no sliding surface have a slope greater than 50 de-
grees. To prevent a child from rolling off the edge of
a slide with an open chute, the side walls must be at
least four inches high; the inside of the chute needs to
be at less 12 inches for children aged two to five and
16 inches for 5- to 12-year-olds. The bottom of the
slide may be curved instead of flat. This means that
a method must be specified for where to measure the
necessary four-inch side wall. So, a semi-circular or
curved cross-section chute must have:
1. Side walls that are at least four inches or greater (y
in Figure 1) when measured at right angles above
a horizontal line (x in Figure 1) that is 12.0 inches
long when intended for 2- to 5-year-olds or 16
inches when intended for 5- to 12-year-olds. Source: 16 Code of Federal Regulations § 1500.48
Technical requirements for determining a sharp point in
Or toys and other articles intended for use by children under
8 years of age
2. The vertical sidewall height (H in Figure 1) may
be a minimum of 4 inches minus two times the The test point enters on the right side of the device,
width of the bedway (W in Figure 1) divided by as shown in the drawing. If it is able to pass through
the radius (R) of the bedway curvature: the gauging slot and press the sensing head 0.005”, an
electrical circuit is completed and powers an indicator
H (inches) = 4 - 2W/R light, thus showing the point is too sharp for use in
toys.

Projections Similarly, CFR 1500.49 lays out the test for determin-
ing the proper sharpness of an edge for any toys in-
Another area of concern is projections from toys, par- tended for use by children under eight years of age.
ticularly sharp points. For children under eight years The code defines very carefully how to determine if
of age, the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) man- an edge is too sharp. A hard mandrel, which can apply
dates under section 1500.48 of their code: a precise amount of force while spinning, forms the
heart of the test.
“A rectangular opening measuring 0.040 inch
(1.02 millimeters) wide by 0.045 inch (1.15 mil- An engineer needs to wrap the full circumference of
limeters) long in the end of the slotted cap es- the mandrel with a single layer of polytetrafluoroeth-
tablishes two reference dimensions. Depth of ylene (TFE) tape. As the mandrel spins, it must be set
penetration of the point being tested determines to apply a force of 1.35 pounds to the toy edge whose
sharpness. If the point being tested can contact a sharpness is being measured. (See Figure 3.)
sensing head that is recessed a distance of 0.015
inch (0.38 millimeter) below the end cap and can
move the sensing head a further 0.005 inch (0.12
millimeter) against a 0.5-pound (2.2-newton)

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 22

 Source: 16 Code of Federal Regulations § 1500.48 
Technical requirements for determining a sharp point in
toys and other articles intended for use by children under
8 years of age

Rotating with a tangential velocity of 1.00 +/- 0.8 inch-

es per second, the mandrel must complete one revolu-
tion as the edge touches the mandrel in a “worst case”
situation; i.e., as a child is most likely to cut himself
or herself with the edge. The edge is labeled “sharp” if
it completely cuts through the tape for a length of not
less than 1/2 inch at any force up to 1.35 pounds.

Summary

This chapter opened by outlining the essential role

of engineers in designing safe toys for children. We
then detailed the revolutionary design of several clas-
sic toy designs: The Magic 8 Ball, the Super Soaker,
and the Slinky. We studied how the ASTM Standard
F1148 Standard Consumer Safety Performance Speci-
fications for Home Playground Equipment applies to
designing a safe platform for children’s playground
equipment. Next, we looked at ASTM F963 Standard
Consumer Safety Specifications for Toy Safety to show
how to design toys for stability and further used this
standard to outline safe designs for merry-go-rounds,
slides, and projections in toys.

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 23

 Amusing Ourselves Safely
Student Assessment
Select the best answer for each question and mark your answers on the Student Assesment Sheet or complete your
assessment online at www.Mckissock.com/Engineering

Final Exam

1. Engineers have had a role in ensuring public c. Water slides

safety: d. Arcade games
a. Only recently.
b. Since the profession started. 7. The organization that writes the standards used
c. Since 1900. for designing amusement park rides and toys is:
d. Never. a. The American Institute of Chemical
Engineers (AIChE).
2. The Roman aqueducts were used for: b. The American Concrete Institute (ACI).
a. Transporting the water necessary for living. c. The American Society for Testing Materials
b. Transporting water for livestock. (ASTM).
c. Industrial water supply. d. The American Society of Mechanical
d. The amusement of the public. Engineers (ASME).

3. A well-engineered roller coaster has 8. In addition to technical skill, the most

the following characteristics: important kind of knowledge for an engineer
a. Is safe; uses gravity and acceleration to to use in designing a good roller coaster is:
confuse and delight a. Sociology.
b. Has high g-forces; is made of metal b. Kinesiology.
c. Is cheap to build; is made of wood c. Physics.
d. Riders enjoy it; it can be constructed quickly d. Psychology.

4. Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster: 9. What is the pre-drop in a roller coaster
a. Has an anti-rollback mechanism. designed to do?
b. Is designed so the cars roll back if a. Thrill riders waiting for the great downward
they do not reach the top. plunge.
c. Uses a chain mechanism to power the cars. b. Reduce tension on the lift chain.
d. Uses air brakes. c. Make the coaster cheaper to build.
d. Both a and b.
5. Roman engineers built the aqueducts:
a. For water for irrigation. 10. The structure of VertiGo, a roller coaster at
b. To provide drinking water. Cedar Point, broke because of:
c. To transport water for washing clothes. a. Vortex shedding caused by the wind.
d. As a luxury for their baths. b. Freezing and thawing.
c. An earthquake.
6. Insurance companies are most concerned d. Failure of a concrete footer.
about _________ at an amusement park.
a. Merry-go-rounds
b. Roller coasters

Amusing Ourselves Safely Page 24