Assignment # Name: Alexis Gero Period: 6 Date: 2/14/13

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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 cross bracing 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 1. 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 #1 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

22.2 13.7 0.5 22.0 19.5 9.6 13.0 12.0 9.4 15.1

12.9 5.0 7.0 12.0 5.5 6.8 5.9 13.0 6.6 5.9

3 0 1 1 0 0 8 16 1 3

no no no no yes yes yes yes no yes

no yes no no yes yes yes yes yes yes

rigid rigid rigid rigid flexible flexible flexible flexible rigid flexible

1 1 15 15 15 15 15 15 1 15

11 12 13 14 15 16

10.5 12.5 14.0 16.2 8.0 16.0

10.5 5.6 11.0 4.0 7.0 10.5

0 0 5 0 4 0

yes no no no no no

no yes yes yes no yes

flexible rigid rigid rigid flexible rigid

15 1 1 1 3 1

Observations: My model lasted 1 second on the shake table. 5 toothpicks fell off in that 1 second. The model started by titling 30 before falling 82%. After being on the shake table it was about 4 centimeters tall. Conclusion According to the textbook on page 204-205 base isolators, shear walls, tension ties, flexible pipes, cross braces, and dampers are good design strategies because many of them absorb the earthquake shock so it is less costing on the building. In this lab, we tested design strategies that keep structures safe when one occurs. I hypothesized that if my structure of 22.2 centimeters tall could withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of cross bracing would be the most important factor in keeping a structure safe and minimizing damage. Over the course of 1 second on the shake table, 5 toothpicks fell off my structure. My model started by titling 30 before falling 82%. After being on the shake table, it was about 4 centimeters tall. In our class, 86% of the structures that were flexible made it the full 15 seconds, which proves that the strategy of flexibility is extremely important. Six out of six structures that were anchored lasted the whole time, which proves anchoring is also very important. 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.