Assignment #23 Blake Noyes 1 2/12/13

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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 20 centimeters tall can withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of 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 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 7. 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 # _____ Group Height of Width of # of Anchored to Low # model base cross the paper (yes center of (centimeters) (centimeters) braces or no) gravity Rigid (clay) or Flexible (marshmallow) (choose one) Time lasted on the shake table (seconds)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

9.7 19.5 9.5 11.0 10.8 13.1 11.0 7.0 10.0 13.4 12.5 10.8

11.9 12.0 8.5 x 7 4.5 x 4.7 5.0 9.0 11.0 x 6.5 5.0 8.5 6.2 x 5.5 8.0 7.1

1 0 1 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 3

no yes no yes yes no no yes no yes no no

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes no yes yes yes yes

Rigid Rigid Rigid Flexible Flexible Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid

12 1 3 15 15 3 6 15 2 15 15 3

Observations: Our model survived 6 seconds. We did not survive as much as most people, but it was fun to make it. We could have won if Jimmy did not nock our building and make it not anchored to the paper. Conclusion According to the textbook pages 204 and 205 cross bracing, shear walls, tension ties, base isolators, dampers, and flexible pipes are good designing strategies because they will help the building stay up and not break apart during an EQ. In this lab we had to design structures that had to withstand an earthquake. I hypothesized that if my structure of 20 centimeters tall could withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of anchoring would be the most important factor in keeping it safe and minimizing damage. Over the course of 6 seconds my structure started to break apart. One toothpick fell off the structure. Five of the 12 structures lasted the whole fifteen seconds. 4 out of the 5 that lasted the whole time used the same strategy of anchoring. Forty% of the 5 used flexible frame instead of rigid frame. In conclusion my hypothesis was incorrect. Anchoring was the most important factor in keeping the structures safe and minimizing damage during an earthquake.