Assignment # 23 Name: Jake Nordstrom Period: 2 Date: 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 15 centimeters tall can withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of wide base (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 5 mini marshmallows or 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 10. 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 (majorit y of the mass is lower than halfway down (yes or no) Rigid (clay) or Flexible (marshmallow) (choose one) Time lasted on the shake table (seconds)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11.5 8.5 10.0 19.5 15.0 13.5 9.6 13.5 6.5 14.0

6.0 4.0 9.3 13.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.0 8.8 13

4 0 0 8 3 7 6 3 9 9

No No No No No No No No Yes No

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Flexible Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid

6 2 1 1 DQ 2 10 3 5 3

11 12 13

11.0 10.0 15.5

8.0 7.5 5.5

7 5 0

No No No

Yes Yes Yes

Rigid Rigid Rigid

1 13 3

Observation: Our model got destroyed 100% and all 40 toothpicks got destroyed, and the clay crumbled and fell 90 over. Conclusion: According to the textbook on pages 204-205, base isolators, shear walls, tension ties, cross bracing, dampers, and flexible pipes are good design strategies to make seismic-safe building. In this lab we tested building structures weather they could withstand an EQ or not. I hypothesized that if my structure of 14 centimeters tall could withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of wide base will be the most important factor in keeping it safe and minimizing damage. Over the course of 3 seconds, my structure got destroyed 100% and all 40 toothpicks got destroyed, and 2 out of the 13 structures that lasted more than 10 seconds using the strategy of low center of gravity. Also 0% of the structures lasted the whole 15 seconds. In conclusion my hypothesis was incorrect. Anchoring and flexibility were the most important factors in keeping the structures safe and minimizing damage during an earthquake.