2.1.

9TrussDesign
JoannaMcDonald
RoryGatson
MichaelFriedmann

POE
Block4

ProblemStatement
Weweretaskedtodesignatrussbasedontestsandresearchthatperforms
betterthantesttrusses.Ourtrusswillbeevaluatedforquality(totalforce)andefficiency
(E=F/W).
Wewereconstrainedtoonlyusingbalsawood,glueandpaper.Thepaper
gussetsmustnotbelargerthanthegussetsusedduringtesting.Ourtrussmustfitin
theapparatus,whichhasaspan
greaterthanorequalto6inchesandaheightless
thanorequalto4inches,bymeasuringtheactualapparatus.Wemustusenomore
than36inchesofbalsawood,andadditionalwoodmaybepurchasedfromMr.Landers
for1pointperinch.

TestTruss
Whenmygrouptriedourtesttruss,itsupportedamaximumforceof14pounds.
Itbrokeinthetopcenter.Ilearnedthattobuildaneffectivetruss,youneedtoutilize
supportswell.Youneedtoplacethesupportsintheplaceswherethetrusswillbethe
mostweakanddontplacethemblindly.Thishelpsmeonthefinaldesign,becauseIll
knowhowtousesupportsandgussetsefficiently.Ourefficiencyduringthistestingwas
149333%.

ResearchResults
Rooftruss#1:

"TileRoof."
TileRoofTrusses
.N.p.,n.d.Web.07Dec.2015.
<
http://tileroofsamo.blogspot.com/2015/05/tilerooftrusses.html
>.

Rooftruss#2:

"HipRoof."
:Trusses
.N.p.,n.d.Web.07Dec.2015.
<
http://hiproofideas.blogspot.com/2015/01/hiprooftrusses.html
>.

ResearchResultsContinued
WhenIresearchedthesetworesources,Idiscoveredthatthereareaninfinite
numberoftrussestocreate.Someofthemareverysimple,likeours,andsomeofthem
areextremelycomplicated.ButwhenIlookedatthemostusedrooftrussdesign,itwas
thedesignwechose.SoIdecidedtochoosethatone,becauseifitsthemostusedin
roofs,itmustbeagoodtrussdesign.Itwasalsosimple,andalotofthetrussesIsaw
hadextremelycomplexdesignsofsupports,whichwasnotfeasible,asourmaterials
werelimited.

DesignIdea
Mydesignidea:

MDSolids:

Thetotallengthofmaterialsrequiredwas28inches.

DecisionProcess
Rorysdesign:

Michaelsdesign:

DecisionProcessContinued
Rorysdesignwastriangularandhadmanydiagonalsupports.Itwouldwithstand
lotsofweightbecauseofitsmanysupports,butithadonlyoneverticalsupport,and
morethanoneverticalsupportwouldbeabletowithstandmoreweight.So,itwasntthe
mostefficientdesignwecouldchoose.
Michaelsdesignwasalsotriangular,buthadmorediagonalsupportsthaneither
ofourdesigns.Therewasalotofwoodnecessary,sowecouldntchooseitbecause
wewouldhavetousealmostallofthewood.Itwouldhaveheldlotsofweightdueto
theextensivenumberofsupports,butitwasntsimpleorfeasibleenoughtochoose.
Forourdecisionmatrix,thecriteriaweusedweresimplicity,staticdeterminacy,
strength,totalwoodlength,andfeasibility.Wechosethesebecausetheyareall
importantcriteriathatshouldbeaminimumforagoodtruss.So,thetrussthatwon
woulddefinitelybeatrussthatcouldbeusedinareallifeapplication.
Fortheresults,mytrussendedupwinning.
FinalDesign:

OfficialTest
Duringtheofficialtestofourtruss,itgraduallyheldmoreweightuntilitreached23
pounds,themaximumforce,andthenweheardacrack.Itcrackedononeofthe
diagonalsupports.Theweightitwasholdingwentdown,andincreasedslightlyand
repeatedthatpatternuntilitcrackedfurtherandwastoobrokentosustainanymore
weight.Theefficiencywas245333.33%.
Beforetest:

Aftertest:

OfficialTestContinued
MDSolids:

SSAgraph:

Teamwork
Rorysjobwastoglueandputtogetherthetrussduringconstruction.Hedidglue
andputtogetherourtrussanddiditwell.Healsofollowedthegroupnormsand
assistedMichaelwithcuttingthebalsapieces.Hehelpedalotwithmakingthegroup
normsandwithdecidingcriteriaforthedecisionmatrix.
Michaelsjobwastomeasureandcutthebalsawoodpiecesfortheconstruction
ofourtruss.Hedidwhathewassupposedtoandalsohelpedwithgluingthetruss
together.Hefollowedthegroupnormsandhelpedcontributeideasandopinionsforthe
decisionmatrix.Hehadtoleaveearlythedayoftesting,buthemadesurehehadall
theinformationheneededbeforeheleft.
Myjobwastoscanimagesformygroupandcutgussetsforourtruss.Ididscan
andcutgussets,andalsohelpedRoryandMichaelwiththeconstructionofthetruss,
mainlywiththemeasuringofthepieces.Ifollowedthegroupnormsandhelped
contributecriteriaforthedecisionmatrix,andhelpedmakethegroupnorms.

Reflection
1.)

Ithinkfailureoccurredatthetrussmemberitdidbecausewhenitwassittingon

thetrusstestingmachine,thelocationonthetrusswherethescrewssathadno
supports.So,thealreadyhighstressonthatmemberwasmorestressfultoourtruss
becauseofthelackofpropersupportinthatlocation.Itwasoneofthememberswith
themoststressaccordingtothecalculations.Thiswasbecause,assaid,ithadoneof
thehigheststressesandwhenimplemented,ithadmorestressduetothelocationof
thescrewsandthelackofpropersupportonthatmember.
2.)

IfIcouldredesignourtrussaftertesting,Iwouldaddverticalsupportsfromthe

diagonalmembers.Thosetwolocationswereunderthemoststressandifthetruss
didntbreakwhereitdid,itprobablywouldhavebrokenontheothersideinthesame
locationduetothelackofsupportandhighstress.Withverticalsupportsthere,there
wouldberesistanceagainstthehighstressonthetrussinthelocationswithscrewssit.
So,ourtrusswouldbeabletoholdmuchmoreweightthanitwasabletoduringtesting.

LocationwhereIwouldaddadditionalmembers: