Project Ab

Project

ENGR 697 Project SPRING 2021

Capstone
 Design
 Topic:
 Spaghetti
 Bridge
 

 
This
 project
 is
 inspired
 by
 the
 famous
 Spaghetti
 Bridge
 Competition:
 
https://www.telg.com.au/spagbridgecomp/.
 In
 this
 project,
 you
 will
 be
 designing
 a
 
bridge
 with
 spaghetti
 that
 will
 be
 able
 to
 sustain
 a
 certain
 number
 of
 loads
 with
 the
 
following
 constraints:
 

 
1. The
 bridge
 must
 be
 constructed
 using
 commercially
 available
 spaghetti.
 No
 

other
 form
 of
 pasta,
 such
 as
 fettuccine,
 is
 permitted.
 Tubular
 spaghetti,
 also
 
known
 as
 bucatini,
 is
 not
 permitted.
 Spaghetti
 is
 a
 cylindrical
 form
 of
 pasta
 with
 
a
 diameter
 not
 greater
 than
 3mm,
 made
 from
 semolina
 or
 flour
 and
 water.
 

2. The
 bridge
 can
 be
 constructed
 using
 PVA/white
 glue,
 hot
 glue
 or
 super
 glue.
 Glue
 
should
 be
 used
 to
 join
 the
 spaghetti
 only;
 glue
 or
 any
 other
 material
 cannot
 be
 
used
 to
 coat
 strands
 of
 spaghetti.
 Two-­‐pack
 epoxy
 glue
 is
 not
 permitted.
 

3. The
 bridge
 must
 include
 the
 supplied
 loading
 hook
 as
 close
 to
 the
 midpoint
 of
 
the
 bridge
 as
 possible.
 

4. The
 bridge
 must
 have
 a
 deck
 that
 a
 toy
 car
 (typical
 matchbox
 car)
 could
 
theoretically
 drive
 across.
 

5. The
 bridge
 must
 span
 at
 least
 37cm.
 The
 only
 bridge
 support
 will
 be
 on
 
horizontal
 surfaces
 each
 side
 of
 the
 clear
 35cm
 span
 on
 the
 test
 rig,
 no
 thrust
 
support
 from
 the
 vertical
 sides
 of
 the
 test
 rig
 can
 be
 used.
 

6. The
 total
 mass
 of
 the
 bridge
 including
 spaghetti,
 glue
 and
 loading
 hook
 must
 not
 
exceed
 300
 grams.
 

7. The
 bridge
 needs
 to
 withstand
 135
 kg
 (300
 lbs)
 of
 weights.
 

 
Recommended
 steps:
 
1. Investigate
 different
 types
 of
 bridges.
 
2. Perform
 hand
 calculations
 on
 the
 potential
 bridges
 and
 select
 the
 one
 with
 

superior
 performance.
 
3. Research
 on
 the
 properties
 of
 the
 elements
 (e.g.,
 spaghetti
 and
 glue)
 for
 building
 

the
 bridge.
 
4. Build
 finite
 element
 models
 using
 a
 software
 of
 your
 choice
 (e.g.,
 SAP
 2000)
 to
 

verify
 the
 results
 from
 the
 hand
 calculations.
 
5. Build
 the
 bridge
 and
 test
 to
 see
 if
 it
 can
 withstand
 the
 required
 weight
 (135
 kg).