Engineering report

Table of Contents
Abstract.............................................................................................................................2
Bridges..............................................................................................................................2
Types of Bridges include:..............................................................................................................2
Arch bridges....................................................................................................................................................2
Suspension bridges.........................................................................................................................................2
Cable stayed bridge........................................................................................................................................2
Truss bridges...................................................................................................................................................2
Beam bridges..................................................................................................................................................3

Scopes of engineering........................................................................................................3
Analysis of Golden Gate bridge..........................................................................................4
Plan..............................................................................................................................................4
Materials and design....................................................................................................................5
Advances in Civil Engineering and Bridge technology.........................................................5
Social and Environmental implications of advancements.............................................................7
Environmental implications............................................................................................................................7
Social implications..........................................................................................................................................7

Carbon Steel used in Bridges..............................................................................................8

Depth analysis of 0.14% Carbon Steel..........................................................................................8
Material Properties.........................................................................................................................................9

Bridge Project Analysis.....................................................................................................11

Pre Analysis................................................................................................................................11
Discussion:.................................................................................................................................13
Bridge Complications Analysis....................................................................................................14
Bridge Calculations.....................................................................................................................16

By Drona Kapoor
Abstract
The Engineering report will contrast and compare different types of bridges as well as build,
study, analyse and improvise on the modelling of a truss bridge. This will focus on civil
engineering and study a current innovation in terms of its cost, design, materials,
manufacturing methods, the forces within and the span length.

Bridges
Commonly used for safely transporting vehicles, people or goods safely over a busy road,
ocean or another landform.

Types of Bridges include:

Arch bridges
Usually consisting of an arch – like structure, arch bridges are basically formulated of the
basic bridge principles of the arch component supporting the deck using cables or trusses.

Suspension bridges
Suspension bridges rely on the support of tough steel cables combined together and
mounted across the span of the deck. The other ends of the cables are connected along a
substantially thicker steel cable which is hung over the bridge and mounted into the ground
on both ends of the bridge.

Cable stayed bridge

Cable – stayed bridges are predominantly similar to suspension bridges but the steel cables
(which are mounted to the deck) are drilled along the length of the main tower’s sides.

Truss bridges
These bridges are built of mainly steel and ceramic towers; truss bridges care built to
withstand large loads such as hefty trucks. An important element in designs is the utility of
triangular truss components. This is due to triangles generally having the toughest shape
and not requiring a sophisticated approach.

Beam bridges
This bridge type is the most
basic and easiest to build and
engineer. No trusses or
arches or cables are
integrated in the design.

By Drona Kapoor
Therefore this made beam bridges not an ideal bridge idea for most required real life
purposes.

Scopes of engineering
Engineers occupation consists of designing, building, maintaining and proposing complex
structures or machinery. The profession comes in many forms which are differentiated by
the different technology and skills required to perform such designs and builds
Different departments of engineering:

o Civil engineering:
This consists of the designing and building of man – made urban built structures like
building, bridges, parks and playgrounds. These structures are based on the current
population and adequately fulfil the population’s needs through building, digging, tunnelling
and connecting. Civils engineers maintain the efficient use of light and energy as well as
improvise for necessary facilitating of goods, services and resources. Out of all engineering
fields, this sector has the predominant demand for professions. Being the heart of
engineering, our complexly technologized infrastructure would not exist without civil
engineering.

o Mechanical engineering:
This sector of engineering consists of the construction of machines. Combinations of
complex engineering physics and trigonometric mathematics principles with materials
science are the necessary skills required when proposing a mathematical design together,
Additionally moving parts. Commonly, mechanical engineers design other machines inside
buildings, such as elevators and escalators
Some of the responsibilities a mechanical engineer will endure are changing climate,
mechanical parts, frequent change of workplace environment, shipping, shifting and
strength testing of materials.

o Electrical engineering
Our world’s electrically operated machinery would not exist without electrical engineers.
These devices which require energy in the obvious form of electricity, consist of vast
amounts of wiring Some of the complex structure these engineers work on are power
plants, mining developments and power solutions for vital cities. Electrical engineering
covers the directing of solutions for the IT and technology departments. This implies and
portrays how many different sub – fields of electrical engineering there are.

o Chemical engineering
Being one of the more complicated and highly – skilled fields, chemical engineering
integrates principles of chemistry, mathematics, physics and microbiology. These concepts
aid them in designing products predominantly related to household appliances, medicine
industry or a job which requires the formulating of chemical compounds.
Several products which we make use of that chemical engineers contribute to include
plastics, pharmaceuticals, processed foods, industrial chemicals and washing detergents.

By Drona Kapoor
 o Systems engineering
Systems engineering involves the combination of several principles from other types of
engineering such as civil, mechanical and electrical. By doing this systems engineers can
adequately aim to focus on how multidisciplinary work will combine to create, manage and
maintain the infrastructure

Analysis of Golden Gate bridge

Plan
The Golden Gate bridge, being a 3
kilometre suspension and truss bridge,
costed an astonishing thirty – five million
dollars for construction, engineering,
administration, inspection and finance.
Prior to the building of the bridge, large and
complex mathematical calculations had to
be made freehand and on modern
computers to ensure the bridge would
perform in the worst traffic and weather
conditions. A one to 56 ratioed model
drawing allowed civil engineers to test and
conclude the calculations were sound. Golden Gates’ aesthetical design was eventually
finalised after it fulfilled the mathematical and climate – resistance properties and
requirements for the bridge.

Vital expenses included:

o $27 000 000 put into construction
o $2 000 000 put into engineering and inspection
o $423 000 for Administrative and Preliminary Expenses

Materials and design

Majority of the materials such as the steel tower structures and cables were fabricated by
third parties. The thin steel cables which maintain the deck’s (road’s) weight, were
manufactured through the combination of several smaller cables. Due to the spinning,
compacting and congregating of 28000 smaller steel cables, the wider cable is easily capable
of holding the smaller steels cables and the deck’s load. More than 1 million litres of
concrete were utilised in the bridge
components which faced compressing
forces such as the anchorages which
situate the hefty cables.
To build the South and North towers,
divers were first required to work
underwater to carefully and quickly fix
the foundation of the towers.

By Drona Kapoor
Earlier, a structure design was proposed and heavily rejected by engineers and society as it
was deemed having a, “heavy-looking cantilevered structure.”

Advances in Civil Engineering and Bridge technology

One of greatest manmade obstacles has been a common requirement is to build bridges,
which frequently increases a man's desire to have a more advanced grasp of mechanics as
well as advancements in technology and materials. These difficulties present opportunities,
and the necessity to push the envelope has led to some of the biggest advances in
engineering design and construction. The oldest records of Roman cofferdams, the Great
Stone Bridge of the Sui Dynasty (581-618), and the Industrial Revolution are all examples of
this (1760-1840). The Industrial Revolution in particular marked a turning point for
improvements in design and materials at a time when a growing infrastructural network was
required.

After the discovery of iron's greater strength to that of timber’s, it was still utilized as a
lighter and cheaper alternative. It took some time before it was used as a stand-alone
structural component in bridge design. Similar changes occurred with steel before it was
utilized to replace iron; bolts and welding took the role of rivets; and in the present day,
computer analysis and CAD (from matrix approaches through FEMs) have taken the place of
manual calculations and drafting.

A recently invented innovative construction material combination used today for bridge
design is self-healing concrete. As time passes after concrete is first put into operation, and
due to the various forces and severe weather acting on the bridge concrete, it is prone to
severe cracking and erosion. Fortunately, specific concrete mixtures combined with
limestone-producing bacteria have been developed. This bacteria aids in filling in the cracks
which develop on the bridge structure. This new innovative technology can prevent costly
damages that can occur if cracks in concrete are not filled or repaired.

Due to increasing bridge – dangerous climate

such as unsafe winds will cause ceramic
towers to sway and twist. This bending of the
towers outweighs the specified rating of the
elastic limit of ceramic materials. Hence the
bridge will remain in a permanent deformed
shape after experiencing a severe bend
promoting the acceleration of the tower’s rate
of erosion, wear and tear at critical points.

Civil engineers order the components prior to the construction. Today's bridge – building
industries face several difficulties, such as adverse weather, safety insurance requirements,
site difficulties, etc. Bridge structural components, such as the deck, are built off-site in a
controlled environment to address these problems. For example, a deck is built of site
during the engineering process and not built after the entire bridge is designed. In other
words, all components are engineered and discussed in different allocated departments

By Drona Kapoor
simultaneously. By doing this, engineers and builders, who are involved in the assembling of
the bridge will have more construction time on their hands.

This conventional way of bridge engineering will soon shift. Bridge design is becoming more
intricate, necessitating the use of powerful, computer-aided software applications. These
computer programs must be able to handle challenging simulated problems and intricately
detailed structural analyses. Advanced computational modelling will be one of the next big
advances in bridge design due to its increased time efficiency and accuracy advantages.

As time passed, engineers increased

the time and effort distributed to
bridges to improve on vital bridge
technological developments. Larger
spanned decks more complexly built
components; general economic
inflation have all contributed to
increased average cost of bridges. As a
result, this has taken a toll on the
overall average cost of the bridge
engineering, plan and construction.

The relative cost (to the average cost of bridges projects in 2013) of building bridges is
signified with the green line in the graph displayed. It can be visibly observed that the
average budget for bridge projects has risen over time since 1960 to 2013.

The suitable range for the length

of bridge decks has immensely
increased due to the major civil
engineering advancements in
bridges as mentioned above.
Additionally, the deck reinforced
with high tensile strengthened
steel to account and protect the
ceramic elements from any
forces which are capable of
causing a bending moment.

Social and Environmental implications of advancements

Environmental implications

Building bridges regardless of the area it is situated has its environmental effects.
Independent of the bridge – type, bridges require large amounts of fuel for long periods of
time. This increases exhaust emission and effects the environment substantially. By building

By Drona Kapoor
a bridge in a hotspot, vehicle drivers are encouraged to drive more often to use the bridge
for the convenience they receive when they have to travel abroad on the other side of the
bridge. To overcome this, engineers have attempted to accelerate the construction of
bridges.

Steel is an extremely common and beneficial material used in all bridge – types due to its
strength, low price, durability and machinability. Fortunately, steel is recyclable allowing
engineers to recall the tonnes of it used in past man-made structures to then put to use
again in bridge construction. Additionally, steel has a long lifespan hence these results with
builders to be incurred with reduced costs to maintain and repair it when contrasting
with other materials as it degrades more slowly than them.

Social implications

People from many areas can interact for work or leisure due to the availability of bridges.
This capability is especially important in regions when one town has a surplus of raw
materials and another has a labour force that seeks employment. People and communities
can help one another in this way.
Bridges are an important element of a nation's infrastructure, making it possible for
industries to deliver vital materials and finished goods to factories, warehouses, stores, etc.
Bridges also provide consumers to travel so they can purchase goods and services in their
own communities and beyond. Hence this further boosts the financial economy of the area
on both sides of the bridge

Carbon Steel used in Bridges

Primarily, carbon steel with a carbon content range from 0.05 to 0.3% is utilised in the
component construction of bridges. The following information was obtained from a prior
engineering report made by the same author.

Depth analysis of 0.14% Carbon Steel

Using Young’s modulus and tensometer to obtain following results:

Process of obtaining Stress:

Points on Load Cross sectional Calculations Stress (Mpa)

Stress Strain (kN) area (mm2) approximate
curve
0.9 1000
Point 1 0.9 10 90 Mpa
10
0.151000
Point 2 0.15 10 15 Mpa
10

By Drona Kapoor
 0.21000
Point 3 0.2 10 20 Mpa
10
And etc. for working out the remaining points

Process of obtaining Strain:

Points on  length Gauge length Calculations Strain (%)

Stress Strain (mm) (mm)
curve
0.05
Point 1 0.05 17.8 100 0.281%
17.8
0.10
Point 2 0.10 17.8 100 0.562%
17.8
0.15
Point 3 0.15 17.8 100 0.843%
17.8
And etc. for working out the remaining points

These calculations
therefore are used
to convert to a
Stress Strain graph
as displayed.

By Drona Kapoor
 Proof stress Ultimate Stress Elastic Limit Proportional Breaking point
point limit
400 MPa 400 MPa MPa Values 280 MPa
between 0
and 250 MPa

Factor of Safety: 4kN / 2.7kN = 1.48 kN/mm2

NOTE: 0.8 mm2 was incorrectly inputted as the cross sectional area of the carbon steel
specimen. To fix this, it was replaced with the real C.S.A; 10 mm 2. The initial length and
change of length in specimen were incorrectly inputted also and was replaced with 17.8 mm
and 24 mm respectively.

Material Properties

 Composition: 14% Carbon, 86% Iron (range of dead mild steel)

 Malleable and ductile

 Decent degree of elastic deformation

 Microstructure details:
- Predominantly ferrite grains with miniature amounts of pearlite in plate forms of
mixture of ferrite and cementite.
- Ferrite is soft, ductile, and malleable
- Ferrite is in continuous phase

 Modification of material:
- Can be modified through cold working or alloying, hardening by heat isn’t an
appropriate treatment.

 Steel has a wide range of heat treatment applications but the most common one is
annealing mainly the cooling rate. For 0.14% steels a slow air cool is most effective
for minimizing carbon content. However, it can also be work hardened or alloyed.

 Destructive and ND tests for 0.14 % steels

- X-ray tests
- Hardness (Vickers or Rockwells)
- Tensometer
- Dye penetrant test: Common NDT which consists of brushing liquid dye on steel
specimens, cracks are then identified as the dye settles on them. The cracks are
consequently filled.

By Drona Kapoor
Bridge Project Analysis
Pre Analysis

Here I present a truss modelled bridge for which I built using;

- Four millimetre wooden sticks
- Wood PVA glue
- Sandpaper
- Nails
- Wooden boards for mounting the faces of the bridge
Through the load testing experiment, my bridge completed the test with a load of
560 Newtons.

I incorporated diagonal trusses to make use of triangular component as triangles are the
strongest shape. This allowed to bridge withstand more force and reduce deformation
during the test.

Discussion:
During the build of the bridge, several problems were faced;

 Keeping the glued bridge pieces together while drying. Several pieces were bent
hence would cause separation between glued pieces (in drying process)

By Drona Kapoor
  Time pressure; Only two weeks was given to build the bridge which hence caused
stress and rushing of the build

 Measurement of sticks which were planned prior were not the genuine
measurements of the sticks as there were many accuracy errors encountered like
over – sanding the pieces.

The weight to load ratio 0.11kg: 560 N

By Drona Kapoor
Bridge Complications Analysis
Images:

By Drona Kapoor
After observing the bridge, I was surprised to see where the approximate weak points were.
Therefore this proved my hypothesis incorrect;
“The outer trusses (which were mounted onto the cage) would snap first as there it was not
reinforced with extra wood like the middle section of the bridge.”

A diagonal truss on the broken side was over sanded and hence resulted in a substantially
shorter length of the diagonal truss. Due to this occurrence, the forces were not balanced
throughout the bridge. This formed major weak points in junctions which were experienced
too high of a net – force.

Another possible cause of the bridge’s destruction is the friction in between the wooden
pieces. The bridge would have definitely performed with a higher load if all wooden pieces
were glued with the maximum physical contact possible between. In the bridge, the poor
glue contact between the wooden sticks would rip and slip due to the insufficient supply of
glue and contact.

By Drona Kapoor
Bridge Calculations

By Drona Kapoor
By Drona Kapoor