2.1.

9TrussDesignReport

Author:
NoahZahm

Group:MilesSimpkins,NoahZahm,JaewooKim,DanielleMorris

POEBlock3

Submitted12915

Problem:
Todesignatrussbasedontestsandresearchthatperformsbetterthantest
trusses
.
Toperformbetter,itmusthaveagreaterefficiencyandsupportagreaterforce.

Constraints:
Thetrussmustbeconstructedentirelyoutofbalsawood,glue,andpaper.In
additionthepapergussetscannotbelargerthanthoseusedinthetesttruss.Thetruss
musthaveaspangreaterthan7andaheightlessthan4.625inches.Finally,during
productionourgroupcannotusemorethan36linearinchesofbalsa.

TestTruss:
Jaewoostrusshadthegreatestefficiency,settingthebarforwhichourtrusswould
performat.
BelowishisMDSolidssimulation.

MDSolidsfortheTestTruss

SSATestResults(testtruss)
Unfortunately,whenJaewooranthetruss,somethingwentwrongwiththeSSA
graph,soitcannotbeprovided.Inaddition,nopicturesweretakenofthetrussbefore
orafterthetestingprocess.ThetrussbrokeatwhenjointatpositionCcollapsedand
memberCDsubsequentlysnapped.Thetrusslikelyfailedthereduetoloaddistriution
WeightHeld:46lbs

WeightofTruss:.0609oz

Efficiency:
755.4%

Research:
Afterweconductedtestsonourtesttruss,wedidsomeindividualresearchover
differenttypesofconstructionoftrusses.Ilocatedtheimageleftdemonstratingavariety
ofdifferentdesigns.Lookingatthedifferentoptions,
IoptedtogowiththeHoweGirdertrussdesign.An
interestingpointtomakeisthatdespitedoing
individualresearch,ofmygroupmatesalsochose
thehowegirder.Thisislikelyduetoitssimplicity,as
itisbuildentirelyoutofisometricrighttriangles,
allowingthemathandcalculationstobeextremely
simple.Inaddition,italsorequiressignificantlyless
materialthantheotheroptionsoutlinedtotheleft.

"HowToSelectRoofTrussesForYourHouse|
BIYToday.com|BuildItYourselfToday."
HowToSelect
RoofTrussesForYourHouse|BIYToday.com|BuildIt
YourselfToday
.N.p.,n.d.Web.01Dec.2015.

ThisisanadditionalimagedepictingtheHoweTruss.

Iincludedthisimagebecauseitshowsthemiteringof
theindividualmembersatthejoints.Weusedthis
informationtohelpourdecisioninhowweconstructed
ourtruss.

"EdilioEdiliziaAvantiVeloce."
BlocchiCadELibrerie
.N.p.,
n.d.Web.06Dec.2015.

DesignandProduction:
Afterconstruction,Istartedtoputtogetheradimensionedsketchformydesignof
choice.

Mydesignwouldrequire26.05ofbalsa

Duetocompletecoincidence,BothJaewoo,Miles,andIbothchosethebasic
designoftheHoweGirdertruss,butwhatdecidedwasthedimensions,Milesbasedthe
trussona7base,whichwastheeasiesttoconstruct.Danielledesignedherowntruss,
howeveritwasnotstaticallydeterminate,sowecouldnotuseit.
TheCriteriaweusedweresimplicity,becauseifitistoodifficulttobuildthenwe
wouldntbeabletofinishontime.Thesecondiswhetherornotwewoulduselessthan

36ofwood,becausenobodywantstolosepointsforsomethinglikerunningoutof
wood.Thirdiseasilyconstructed,duetosimilarreasonsasthefirst.Fourthis
tension/compressiondistributionbecauseifitisdistributedpoorlythenthetrussfailsa
lotsooner.5thisthetimerequirementagainbecausewewanttobeabletofinish.

TheTest:

WeightSupported:49lbs

TrussWeight:.011lb

Efficiency:4,298.2%

Ourtestwentwell,ourtrussheldamaximumof49lbs,breakingfirstattheupperleft
member,followedbythecentraljoint.Myanalysisofwhyit
brokeinthatorderisoncethebasictrianglewas
compromised,alloftheforcewasdistributeddownthe
verticalbeam,actingasabatteringramintothejoint
.Our
finaltrussheld49lbsforafinalefficiencyof4,298%

Teamwork:
Inourgroupnorms,wedidnotassignspecifictasksbecausewedecidedthatwe
functionbetterwithoutassignments.Becauseofthis,Jaewoo,Miles,andIoften
functionedtogetherasasingleunit,splittingupsingleproblemsamongthethreeofus
tosolvethemquicklyandefficiently.TheonlydownsidetothisisDanielledidnot
functionverywellinthisstyleofgroup,andwasoftenleftinthedustofourprogress.
Jaewooworkedmostlyasthegrouporganizer,hismostnoticeablecontributions
weredevelopingthegroupnormsandensuringthateverydocumentthatneededtobe
sharedwas.Duringthebuild,Jaewoodevelopedamethodtocutthewoodwithadull
hobbyknife,preventingthedeformationofthebalsa,sohewasinchargeofmaking
sureourcutswereashighqualityaspossible.
Mileswasourdetailmanager.Healwaysmadesurethatwewerentskipping
anysteps,andwouldworkveryefficientlytocrankoutdifferenttasksinatimely
manner.Duringthebuild,hecutoutthegussets,andremeasuredeverymeasurement
Iwouldmaketoensurethatitwouldfittogetherperfectly.Additionally,afterthe
memberswerecut,hesandedthecutstoensurehighqualityjoints.
Duringtheplanninganddesignportions,Itendedtotakeabackseattothe
action,andjustfindjobstodotokeepthegroupprogressingforward.Duringthebuild
however,Ididthemathtofindtheexactlengthofeachofthestructuralmembers,Ialso
designedthejointsofthetrussattemptingtominimizetheshearingforceontheglue.I
sketchedoutthepatternstocut,anddidpreliminarymeasurements.
Daniellewasourpaperworkperson,whileweweredesigningandbuilding,she
wasdoingtheMDSolidssimulationsandrunningthecomputer.Duringthetesting
phaseshetookupthetaskofdeterminingwherethetrussbrokefirst.Despitethese
contributions,shewasveryoftenatacompletelydifferenttabletalkingtoherfriendsas
opposedtoofferingherhelporideas.

Reflection:
Thetrussfailedalongoneofthelegsofthetriangle.MDSolidspredictedthatina
perfecttriangle,alloftheweightwouldbedistributedalongthelegs,andnoneofit
wouldgointothetruss.Becauseofthestrengthofthejoint,thebreakwaslimitedtothe
compressionofthefirsthalfofthemember.
IfIweretoredesignit,Iwouldveryslightlyflexthelegssuchthatinsteadof
bowingoutward,itwouldtrytobowinward,whereitwouldbesupportedbythe
trusswork.Inaddition,Iwouldtrytointerlockthejointsmore,sothatinadditiontothe
glue,thewoodisactuallywoventogether,makinganextremelystrongjoint.