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Course: MIT+K12 > Unit 1
Lesson 3: Physics- The physics of skydiving
- The physics of invisibility cloaks
- The science of bouncing
- How do ships float?
- Thomas Young's double slit experiment
- Newton's prism experiment
- Bridge design and destruction! (part 1)
- Bridge design and destruction! (part 2)
- Shifts in equilibrium
- The Marangoni effect: How to make a soap propelled boat!
- The invention of the battery
- The forces on an airplane
- Bouncing droplets: Superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces
- A crash course on indoor flying robots
- Heat transfer
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Bridge design and destruction! (part 1)
This is a two part video that introduces the different types of bridges. The bridge types will be introduced in historical order from simple (beam and arch) in the first video to more complex (truss and suspension) in the second video. This will show how bridges evolved as our designs and available materials expanded. The design of each bridge will be shown schematically along with the load distribution. The advantages and limitations of each type will be described. Video of actual bridges around Boston of the different types will be shown with the load distributions overlaid on freeze frames. Other iconic bridges will also be shown as still images with load distributions. Technical concepts covered will be tension, compression, bending, span, force balances, material selection and beam/cable design. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA More information at http://k12videos.mit.edu/terms-conditions. Created by MIT+K12.
Want to join the conversation?
- 1:42In the upper right, there is the load reading. What does lbf stand for? Pound force or something?(6 votes)
- Yes, 'lbf' stands for pound force. It is sometimes written with a subscript 'f'.(10 votes)
- Where do you get the materials for building the bridge? What kind of wood do you need? Where do you get it?(6 votes)
- We used balsa wood and plywood. Balsa you can get at art stores, and plywoods at a hardware store, or both online(7 votes)
- Where could one get a laser like the one in the video? Also, did anyone notice the crazy guy in the arch bridge was missing a hand?(5 votes)
- Yes, I did notice the crazy guy (a crook head) was missing a hand.
I think the laser used would cost more than a Ferrari! That's industrial strength, a real investment even for a manufacturing company. I think MIT has it for projects like this one.(6 votes)
- At1:29, why do they put another piece of wood? Is it for the load?(3 votes)
- That is to distribute the load more evenly across the deck surface(5 votes)
- Great video! I love how innovative designs help distribute the load. But as this experiment showed, beam bridges spanning long distances are rather weak, but I collect that they were the first ever types of bridges used. So were there a lot of accidents initially or was there a weight limit or a vehicle limit or was the bridge made of really heavy materials to compensate for the structural weakness?(3 votes)
- One thing that was not included was that to make a bridge stronger you can use a thicker deck material, however only up to a certain point, otherwise the whole bridge will collapse under its own weight(5 votes)
- At1:25, was that a 3-D printer? Where can you get one of those?(2 votes)
- We only used a laser cutter and a tensile testing machine, no 3D printers unfortunately(6 votes)
- Over all what is the strongest type of bridge when each bridge is in its prime circumstance(4 votes)
- It really depends in what scenario... Beam is often the cheapest and not the strongest. Suspension is good for long distances. Arch is good for small to medium size. You can put a truss on abeam to strengthen it. A good truss will often be largely compromised of triangles.(2 votes)
- If I may, I'd like to go off-board for a second and draw a connection to an Art History video I happened to watch on KA before this! The video in question is Birth of the Gothic: Abbot Suger and the Ambulatory at St. Denis.
At around2:20, the speakers begin to discuss rounded vs. pointed arches, and their load distributions. What sort of benefit might a pointed arch have for a bridge, or is it not at all desirable?(5 votes)- It's not really desired but it's there. It can be a stronger-element if the peak overlapped though. :D(0 votes)
- I noticed he mentioned that arch and truss bridges are good at long distances. If this means that in short distance bridges, beam bridges are superior, then why not have a long beam bridge with lots and lots of columns or straight vertical supports ,like the ends of the bridge, in between?(2 votes)
- Because with a long bridge it would take a lot of time, money, and resources to build so many supports. Also if the bridge was going over a road or waterway there would be a lot more things for an out of control vehicle/boat to smash into.(2 votes)
- So in order to make a longer and more sturdy bridge, you need more arches.
So are beam bridges for shorter distances and arch bridge for longer? Also, which bridge design are most sturdy for long distances (not just the ones in this video)?(1 vote)- More arches would allow you to make a longer bridge, but you would need supports in the middle of the bridge (which isn't always possible). To make longer bridges, other designs are usually used (truss and suspension). Part 2 covers those designs.(3 votes)
Video transcript
When was the last time you
had to do this, or this, to get across a stream,
river, fjord or lava pit? Probably never, because we have
these things called bridges. Bridges are awesome. But what are all
these different types of bridges that you see around? Why don't they
all look the same? Let's find out. Engineering. The most basic type of
bridge is a beam bridge. It has the most simple design,
with a beam, also called the bridge deck, that is
supported at both ends. Let's drop into our diagram
mode to see how the forces act upon this bridge. When a load is applied
to these bridges, they bend and experience
two types of forces. The top of the beam
is pushed together, which is called compression. The bottom of the
bridge is pulled apart, which is called tension. Here, we are using lasers
to build model bridges out of balsa wood and plywood. Always wear purple gloves
while handling balsa wood. Safety first kids. You can see the simple design. Now, let's see what happens
when we apply forces to it. To do this, we'll use
a compression tester that can apply up to
20,000 pounds of force, although we probably won't
get that high on this test. The compression tester
will apply a load, or in other words, a
weight, and measure the strength, or just how
far the material moves in response to a load. Also to help us on this test
will be these LEGO people, who will measure the
ability to be launched from a bridge when it breaks. Critical information
for bridge designers. Officer. Hello. You see that as the load
increases the bridge bends. And it eventually breaks
at a load of 115 pounds. But now, what if you want
to span a longer distance? Here we use the same
deck material on top, but we have doubled the
length of the bridge. This time, our
main test subjects will be the happy former
chef, hat man, bike guy with no helmet-- shame on you. You can see that the longer
bridge bends even more, and it breaks a much lower
load, only 25 pounds, which is 80% percent weaker
than the short beam bridge. Plus, the LEGO people
get launched into space. That isn't very good. We want the bridge the
sport a lot of weight over a long distance. So how can we make bridges
that span longer distances? There are other
bridges designs that allow us to use the
same deck material and span longer distances. This takes us to the curviest
of bridges, arch bridges. An arch is a great way to
evenly distribute a load, and has been used in bridge
building for a long time. In this example, we
just have a beam bridge with an arch underneath. The load is distributed through
the arch into the ground. Notice how only compressive
forces are present, and no tension forces. This is great for wood
and stone bridges, because they are much stronger
in compression than tension. In our model arch bridge,
we used the same long bridge length, with added arch
supports on both sides. To help us is tricycle
man, helmet-- good job-- classy businesswoman,
and this, crazy guy. Let's go. You can see that the beam
does not bend as much with the arch underneath. And that reaches a
higher load before it fails, 100 pounds, which is
500% stronger than the long beam bridge. Here, we have seen
that beam bridges get weaker as they get longer. Adding an arch makes
the bridge very strong. But arches have
length limitations. Beam and arch
bridges historically have relied on wood and
stone as building materials. These materials are usually
only strong in compression, and not in tension,
which restricted the designs that could be used. However, with the discovery
of steel bridge builders now had the ability to
add structural units that would be strong in tension. This led to more intricate
styles of bridges that we will explore
in our next video. [MUSIC PLAYING]