Assignment # 23 Name: Christian Abella Period: 1 Date: 2.12.

13

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Will My Building Withstand an Earthquake? Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was an innovator in designing buildings that could withstand earthquakes. For example, Wright designed the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, which withstood that citys severe 1923 earthquake with only minor damage. Many modern cities located in earthquake prone areas have enacted building codes designed to reduce damage to structures, thereby reducing the incidents of injury or death. Architects often go beyond these safety codes to ensure public safety. For example, the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco is stronger than required by the citys building code. It also has features built into its base that are designed to dramatically reduce how much the building will sway during an earthquake.

Problem: What design strategies keep structures safe in an earthquake? Hypothesis: If my structure of 9 centimeters tall can withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of and cross bracing (cross bracing, using a wide base, anchoring, a low center of gravity, rigid frame, or flexible frame) will be the most important factor in keeping it safe and minimizing damage. Materials: 40 Toothpicks 5 mini marshmallows or 25 grams of clay Sheet of paper (to build structure on and put names and group number on) Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Make your hypothesis if you havent already done so. On the back or bottom of this sheet, sketch a plan how you and your partner are going to build your structure. How are you going to use the materials? Draw an example of your structure. Have the teacher check and sign off on your drawing. Before you start building get a group number___. Once the teacher has given you your group number, you may start building your model. After you have finished making your model, fill out the data table for your group below. Place your model on the counter with a piece of paper underneath it and be sure your names and group number are on it. Collect data from all the other groups so that your data table is filled out. Results: Class Data Table for Period # _____ Group Height of Width of # of Anchored to Low #3 model base cross the paper (yes center of (centimeters) (centimeters) braces or no) gravity (majorit y of the mass is lower than halfway down (yes or no) Rigid (clay) or Flexible (marshmallow) (choose one) Time lasted on the shake table (seconds)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

9.7 19 9 11.0 10.8 13.1 11 7 10 13.4

11.9 12 8x7 4 x 4.7 5 9 11 x 6.5 5.0 8 6.2 x 5

1 0 1 6 3 0 0 0 0 0

no yes no yes yes no no yes no yes

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes no yes yes

clay clay clay flexible flexible clay clay clay clay clay

12 1 3 15 15 3 6 15 8 15

11 12 13

12.5 10.8

8.0 7.1

1 3

no no

yes yes

clay clay

15 3

Observations: Our model lasted 3 seconds and was demolished by the earthquake. The sticks flew out of the base and the cross braces broke within 3 seconds. Anchoring was helpful for this class. Conclusion According to the textbook on page 204-205 base isolators and flexible pipes are good design strategies because the base isolators keep the energy of the earthquake from coming into the building and flexible pipes have flexible joints on the pipes for it to bend with the energy from the earthquake for the water and gas to go through them without taking damage. In this lab we had to find out what design strategies that would help a structure withstand an earthquake. I hypothesized that if my structure of 9 centimeters tall could withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of and cross bracing would be the most important factor in keeping it safe and minimizing damage. Over the course of 3 seconds my structure did not withstand the shaking of the shaker. The cross braces cracked the rigid frame that I installed in the bottom of the frame. I used clay for making the model stick together. The clay helped the structure have a rigid frame and helped it to not collapse for 3 seconds. Five of the 13 structures from this lab withstood the intense shake of the earthquake. 80% of the structures that still stood used anchoring. About 15% of the buildings used a flexible frame for their strategy. That 15% withstood the earthquake for 15 seconds. Wit h data it shows that cross bracing was not a key component in this lab. In conclusion my hypothesis was incorrect. Anchoring was the most important factor in keeping the structures safe and minimizing damage during an earthquake.