Design and Analysis: Joints
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9 C-SKETCH ROUNDS (COLLABORATIVE IDEATION)
29 CONCEPTUAL SKETCHES
11 POTENTIAL JOINT DESIGNS
3 FINAL, DIMENSIONED JOINT DESIGNS!
Our Design and Analysis: Joints (DNAJ) team spent the fall term designing methods of connecting all the 3’6” structural members to assemble our 22’ long bridge design, all while learning how to analyze these designs by applying structural engineering principles.
Above are rejected designs made by DNAJ - for final arrangements, stay tuned to our competition!
The first step to designing these joints was ensuring the team was familiar with the new rules. The team then performed various c-sketches, with some members showing off their skills by drafting models of the joints using software like Sketch-Up and Autodesk Inventor. Ensuring the proposed designs always followed the rules - including limiting the number of contact surfaces and penetrating each one with a bolt - was something the team focused on. After these initial steps, the team focused on understanding the joints’ potential failure mechanisms to perform various analyses and calculations to finalize the joint dimensions.
