ABSTRACT

Thepurposeofthisprojectwastoinvestigateandtakepartintheengineeringdesignprocess
throughtheresearch,design,andexecutionofspaghettibridgesundergivenconstraints;each
bridgewasassessedonitsstrengthtoweightratiounderdirectload.MAKBridgeSolutions
firstbridgeendeduptestingbetterthantheirsecondbyaratioof1.33,andalthoughtheirsecond
bridgeendeduptaking6thoutof8thplace,eachmemberwasabletotakeawayknowledgeofthe
engineeringdesignprocess.
INTRODUCTION
Theneedforproposalsforhigherstrengthtoweightratiobridgesarerising,especially
consideringrecentcatastrophicbridgefailuresliketheInterstate35Wbridgecollapsein
Minneapolisin2007,withtheNTSB(NationalTransportationSafetyBoard)citingadesignflaw
atrianglecornerfailingastheprimarycause.1Byadheringtotheengineeringdesignprocess,
newbridgedesignsolutionsmayberealizedwithscalemodelsofsuchbridgesmadeoutof
fettuccinepastaandhouseholdglue.Byanalyzingthewaythesemodelshandleweightand
pressure,teamsmayformbetterideasinregardstohowrealbridgedesignscanbetailoredto
holdthemaximumamountofweightwhileweighingtheleastamount.

BACKGROUND
Theusersofthesenewbridgedesignswouldbethegeneralpublic,asbridgesareanarchetypal
exampleofacivilgood.Althoughthisprojectinvolvessimplyconstructingamodelofsucha
bridgeundergivenconstraintsandthenoptimizingitthroughtheengineeringdesignprocess,
theidealendresultwouldbetodiscoverinnovativeimprovementstocurrent,publicusebridge
designssoastolessenthechanceoffuturebridgefailures.
Duetotheinherentcomplexityofmaterialsscience,severalassumptionsweremadethroughout
theengineeringdesignprocess,suchasassigningconsistentpropertiestoeachstrandof
fettuccinipasta(penneandlinguini,inthiscase),aswellastheconsistencyoftheglue
(traditionalhotglue).

Designconstraintsincludedamaximummass(fettucciniandglue)of0.5pounds(227grams)
ofthebridge,abridgespanofatleast300mm,andaminimumheightof50mm.Inaddition,
althoughnotspecifieddirectly,theteamplacedamaximumwidthofthebridgeto3inches,as
thatwasmaximumwidthoftheendsupports.Anybrandofpastawasallowed,butonlynon
toxic,nonflammable,nonepoxygluewasallowed.Thebridgewasnotallowedtoencroach
upontheminimumclearingzoneof8mmduringtheactualtesting.Safetywasobservedatall
times;nosharpedges,brokenparts,hazardousmaterials,etc.wereused/implemented.Care
wastakenwhilehandlingthehotglueandboxcutterandduringfinaltesting,safetygoggles
wereworn.
Relevantresearchincludeddistinguishingbetweenthemanyavailable,establishedtruss
designsforbridges,aswellasanindepthanalysisofhowbridgesactuallywork.2Theresearch
teaminvestigatedthepropertiesofdifferingbrands/typesofpastawithdifferentcombinations
ofglue,andactualbridgesbothusedinthepastandinusetoday3todeterminetheoptimum
designgiventheconstraintsandobjectivemaximizingthestrengthtoweightratiospecified
below.
=

weight held
.
bridge weight

Forconsistencyandsimplicity,eachteamwasinstructedtousetheimperialsystemunitof
weight,theounce.
METHODOLOGY:
Followingtheresearchphase,aninitialproposalfortheprojectwasdeveloped,andthenacted
uponbasedonadesignsketch(seeappendixA1)agreeduponbytheteammembers.With
materialsobtainedfromhomeandconveniencestoressuchasWollastons,constructionofthe
firstdrafttookplaceinSnellEngineeringCenterroom368ofNortheasternUniversity.Apost
analysisofboththeteamsbridgeaswellasothersconsistingofphotos,videos,andintergroup
discussionallowedforimprovementstothecurrentdesign.Followingthedesign,construction,
andtestingofthesecondandfinalbridge,theteammemberscontributedtoawrittenreport
detailingthestepsoftheengineeringdesignprocess.Thetablebeginningonthenextpage
2

detailstheaforementionedtasks,selfassigneddeadlines,assumedmemberresponsibilities,and
completionstatus.

Task

MaterialsRequired

Date

Status

Who

Project
Proposal

ComputerandProjectNotes

9/15

Complete

All

Material
Obtaining

BoxCutter,3BoxesofLinguini,oneboxeachof
wholegrainandglutenfreepenne,GlueGunwith
glue,othertypesofglueforexperimentation(gorilla,
superglue),newspaper,ruler,designspecs,
computers,andcalculator

9/16

Complete

Arnold
&
Michael

Massing
Linguini

Linguini,ElectricBalance

9/15

Complete

Michael

Design
Drawing

Paper,Pencil,LinguiniMassValues

9/16

Complete

Arnold
&Karan

FirstBridge
Construction

MaterialsoutlinedinMaterialObtainingtask

9/17

Complete

All

FirstBridge
Test

BridgePrototype

9/19

Complete

All

FinalBridge

BoxCutter,ThreeBoxesofLinguini,HotGlueGun,
RevisedDesignSketch

9/24

Complete

All

Finaltest

FinalBridge

9/25

Complete

All

WrittenReport

Computer,ProjectNotes,ProjectProposal

10/2

Complete

All

Note:Allconstructionsandbrainstormingsessionswilltakeplaceinthedesignatedstudent
room(SN368)oftheSnellEngineeringCenter.Researchandworkontheproposalandwritten
reportwasconductedtogether,aswellasoneachmembersowntime.
ALTERNATIVESOLUTIONS
Analternativesolutionthattheengineeringteamthoughtofwasavariantofthetrussbridge
designwithatriangularprismbuildultimatelyimplemented.Followingthetestingand

intergroupdiscussionswithotherteams,adiscussionoverwhetherornottopursuethesame
designoraddanothermainsupportfortheseconddraftofthebridgetookplace.Reasonsfor
consideringtherectangularprismbuildoverthatofthetriangularprismincludedagreater
distributionofforceduringtesting(duetotheincreasedsurfaceareaofthevelcrowiththe
bridge),whichwouldallowforgreaterstrength.However,morematerialswouldneedtobe
used,resultinginagreatermassandlowerstrengthtoweightratio,aswellasdecreased
stabilityasaresultofshiftingfromatriangularcrosssectiontoarectangularone.Intheend,
theteamcollectivelydecidedthatthestructuralintegrityofthepennecasingwithlinguini
wouldbesufficientenoughtocounteralargeamountofweightdistributedoverasmaller
surfacearea.
FINALDESIGNSOLUTION&RESULTS
Theteamsfirstbridgehadamassof7.90oz,justunderthe8.0ozlimit,butwasabletohold
pasttheavailableamountofweightsthatthesupervisorprovided(29lbs).Asaresult,theteams
finaldesignemphasizedamoreconservativedesignsoastocutdownonmass.Thesecuts
includeddecreasingtheheightofthebridgefrom12cmtoaround6cm(AppendixA)Increasing
thebridgesheight,whileitwouldcertainlydecreasethebridgesdeflectionundertesting,would
ofcoursebeaccompaniedbybothanincreaseinmassandinstability.Becauseposttestanalysis
ofthefirsttestingindicatednegligibledeflection(ascomparedtootherteamswhosebridges
wereshorter),theteamcollectivelydecidedthatdecreasingtheheighttoaround7cmwould
maximizethebridgesstrengthtoweightratiowhilebeingtallenoughtoabidebythe8mm
maximumdeflectionallowed.
Furthermore,theteampaidgreaterattentiontowhichpieces/structuresofthebridgewouldbe
undereithertensionorcompressionbasedonafreebodydiagram(AppendixB).Itwas
determinedthatthetrussesholdingthetwomainstructuralpiecesonthebottomofthebridge
togetherwouldbeundercompression;simpleexperimentationwiththeavailablematerials
tensiontomasspropertiesconfirmedthatusingtwopiecesoflinguiniforthesetrussesinsteadof
sixpiecesencasedbywholegrainpennewoulddecreasetheendmassofthebridgewhile
maintainingitsproperfunction(AppendixB).
4

Astheteamwasrushedontimefortheconstructionofthefirstbridge,craftsmanshipbecame
anotherfocusforthefinalbridge.Thetrussesofthefirstbridgecameoutasymmetric,butinthe
second,cameoutsymmetric.Aestheticswasntofhighestpriority,yetthecorrelationbetween
thattraitandfunctionwasaclearone,sotheteamemphasizedglueconservationforthesecond
bridge.
Contrarytoteamintention,theinitialprototypeoutperformedthefinalproduct.Thefinalbridge
designemployedtwolesssupportsattheendsofthebridgeaswellaslesstriangletrusses
(whichthroughresearchwasestablishedasthestrongesttypeoftruss2).Whilethiswasaminor
flawinthedesign,poorerperformancecouldalsobeattributedtothefactthatthetrussesof
linguiniwereintentionallynotshieldedbypenne(toconserveonmass)liketheywereinthe
originaldesign;thetensiontolerabilityofthelinguiniwasoverestimated.That,finallycoupled
withhumanerrorinthemanifestationofapoorhotgluejob(i.e.,notenough)onthetopjoint,
canbeblamedforthefinalbridgefailure.
Thetablebelowliststhemonetarycostsincurred:
Item

Unit

Total

StandardBoxCutter

$10.99

$10.99

ElmersSuperglue(3packof2geach)

$2.39

$2.39

ElmersWashableSchoolGlue(polyvinylacetate,4floz)

$1.69

$1.69

ElmersGlueallmax(0.5floz)

$3.39

$3.39

PrinceLinguine(1pound)

$1.99

$5.97

GorillaGlue(2floz)

$7.99

$7.99

Barillawholegrainpenne(13.25oz)

$2.49

$2.49

SamMillsPastadoroGlutenFree(16oz)

$2.59

$2.59

DualMeltGluesticks(packof24)

$12.29

$12.29

SurebonderGluegun

$9.99

$9.99

Newspaper,ruler,computers,calculators,andpaperfordesignspecs

Free

Total(notinc.tax)

NA

$59.78

CONCLUSIONS&RECOMMENDATIONS
Theprimarypurposesoftheprojectwasntsomuchontheactualmechanicsorfoundationsof
civilengineeringasontheengineeringdesignprocessitself.Consequently,thoughthefirst
draftoutperformedthesecondbyafactorof1.33onthescoringcriteria,theteamwasableto
experiencefirsthandthedynamicsofworkinginagrouponastricttimebudget,skillsthat
lecturecantpasson.ThefunctionalityoftechnologiessuchasAutoCADwasdemonstrated
firsthand,extendingitsusetooutsidepreconfiguredscenarios.Finally,allteammembers
betteredtheirtechnicalwritingskillswiththeassignmentoftheproposalandtheformal
writtenreport.
Thedesignwassufficient,asitwasbackedbyboththephysicsoffreebodydiagrams
(AppendixB)andbystandingbridgesinusetoday.However,theimplementationofthe
designfromshoddycraftsmanshiptoincorrectanalysesofthepropertiesofpenneand
linguiniwouldclearlynotsuffice.Consequently,forfurtherengineeringdesignprojects,the
MAKBridgeSolutionswillundergoamoreintensive,quantitativeapproachtomaterials
testing,andraisecraftsmanshipstandards.Toolstoaidtheprocessincludedesigningajigfor
theparticulardesignandassigningjobrolesbasedoffofcomparativeadvantage.