Saturday went well

Good turnout yesterday. The welding of the decks seemed to take longer than maybe it should've but 4 more are done regardless. Ole' Miggy though seems to be leaking so on Monday will have Mr. Tom Bell get a look at 'er and hopefully we can get back to business by Monday afternoon.

Lots of pieces still have to be precision milled, and we have plenty of connection work to still complete. Phil and Jessica will work the mills this week, Phil on the DK doves, and Jessica precision milling most likely. Charmine is about a day away from shop certification, so her and Jessica will do the ever so important angled cuts, and the entire OT which will requre some real money cuts. Remember, anything that's angled on one side yet flat on the other can be precision milled just the same, only from one side.

Lots to do, keep at it, no sleep 'til Brooklyn, er San Jo.















"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein

Tex-Mex and Da Bulls are already ready...

Hey everybody!

Word in from the 2007 Tex-Mex ASCE Regional Conference Steel Bridge Competition hosted by Texas Tech in Lubbock:

1. Texas A & M University, College Station - invited to Northridge
2. U. of Texas, Austin - invited to Northridge
3. Texas A & M University, Kingsville

Link to the Longhorn effort here:
http://www.caee.utexas.edu/newsreader.cfm?articlePK
=359&namedpagePK=1&articleType=externalNews





































Might have been a little controversy, but all things put aside, the A&M Aggies and the Longhorns are headed to Northridge.

Also, the University of South Florida is on a mission to "stay ahead of the game", just like Mr. Cannon would do. They've already got their puente ready for the SE Regional in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee. Good stiffness numbers
reported!

http://groups.google.com/group/usf-ascebridge

Deck Saturday 1/27

Only about 90 days from MidPac now Aggies.

This Saturday, we will push to get the whole deck frame completed. Jess, Phil and Jennifer have been working all day today after the career faire. We'll have plenty to do on Saturday, and we'll find stuff to do we didn't know we had to do no doubt.











(...Watchu lookin' at?)

Sizzle

Welding will commence on Saturday, January 20th, let's work hard and efficiently people.

January 18+

Steel cutting is going down now, most of the straight cuts have been made to the deck and crank connections. We've still got to cut the lightwall chords and the Overtruss which will get double, double checked before we get into it. Work is going on so stick around and see how the bridge gets made everybody. Phil and Jessica in the shop as well, so shadow them and see the money cuts on the mill.

Jessica's going to precision mill two flanges and get some webbing cut so we can make our first beam pieces this Saturday -- so long as we get the Tinius beam in 1203.

Matt will cut some more in 1203 after Fiber Polymer Reinforced Concrete class this afternoon. Say 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. - then go grab a burrito down at Guad.

Vote for your theme!

Chro...............so many possibilities.

Peace.

Make it so number one...

Acero esta aqui. (steel is here)

The January Surge

When the steel gets in we will go to work immediately on the deck. We'll need rough cuts, about 1/8" over, then we will precision mill those lengths in the student shop during open hours. Anything light wall can be wheeled, which we can do in the lab, and even more so if we manage to find an Ellis for our own use. If anybody has a saw capable of cutting steel in a variety of forms, i.e. bar, tube, rod etc. then bring it in so we can get use out of it.

Dovetail programming and production will be the highest priority as they set the standard for our connection stiffness, which in turn equals our bridge stiffness. Deck will come first, the the super stuff, then the LT stuff. While the programming and all that other jazz goes down, we do need to cut a shiteload of blanks and precision mill them down. Lengths to rough cut are +1/8" actual size.

In the meantime, while the major shipment is being waited on -- we need to make special tools for the practice campaign. These tools will mimic our 2007 assembly procedure and hopefully, might even be modifiable for our campaign this year. The practice will help new construction team members get familiar with DT's, the site, etc. etc. Need to use our time wisely, no breaks, we need to work and get it done, quickly and precisely.


Go Ags!

Here Comes Santa Claus...

Well, Chromalypto is about to set in...YES!!!

It's now officially fab season, and you know what that means, steel splinters in the finger tips, ooo, yes!!!

What was that Marv?

"YES!"

You got it buddy.

Okay, the steel will be here shortly, mostly from Pennsylvania hopefully, CTV and Co. permitting, if not, we'll take in what we can to get started from Southern Illinois.

We need to mainly cut and precision mill all lengths first. Remember on the flanges to look for the bow and put that bow in the "deflection direction" i.e. the one that goes up and down on the bridge. If you we cut and clamp a flange that is warped in the lateral direction, it will warp the deck and make connections a bother. Better to prestress/weld the flange in the up and down direction. Milled slots will need to be in the up and down direction as well. Check with Matt before you mill a deck slot on any flange.

Phil will hopefully set up the dovetail mill program tomorrow. Matt will be there for about an hour or so before he has to jet for work. Need to get that order in before Friday the 22nd from PA. UPS baby! Let's get the maturl here.

Feliz Navidad Amigos! Relax while you can, it's relentless 'til April in San Jo!

Why did Santiago Calatrava design a bridge in Redding?

The Chosen One

MONSTRO

D Week 12/3+

Howdy Y'all,

Saturday was a great day for us! We got solid, reliable numbers for all 12 design variations, now Jessica and Matt will look at the models, double check the weights, deflections, load placements etc. etc. and Tuesday night we'll have a vigorous discussion on what we think the best choice will be. Depth vs. Chordage? Speed vs. a bit lighter and/or stiffer? Cold decisions come from the scoring, so we'll need some good thought this week to make decision we all feel comfortable with. The good thing is, every design choice we have is a good bridge. Veterans will use their past season's experience during the fabrication rounds to help steer the way to our best choice.

Until then, finish strong in Bridge, finish strong in the classroom.

...for in the final analysis...

What's happenin' everyone!

Tests and Projects beating you down? That's okay, we'll procrastinate with a design session Friday night and a full day of Chrome Ollie stuff on Saturday!!!

Okay, so, here is the earth, I mean...We'll be meeting Friday night at Matt's place on Brandywine to discuss the options we have to analyze on Saturday. Our priliminary analyses show what are the likely best cases for all bridges. Friday night we will finalize all design features for each bridge that WILL be made for each design. So, for instance, if one bridge has a shallow deck, it will have a wide lateral truss, if it has a deep deck, it may have a tri-lateral truss, or we may put more DK to DK laterals in it (separate members). Either way, these decisions need to be made so we can get a dead nuts accuracy on what features will be fabricated for each bridge. Most importantly, we'll talk about constructability of each design.

On Saturday we will of course be moving our gear down to the fabrication level below the Loft so the construction boys can have their way with the wall and the staircase. This will only improve productivity. We will make brand new models from up to date DXF's in SAP, and analyze our previously recorded best results for each bridge. Right now there are 6 main designs (including a new one we haven't analyzed just yet) we are going through, each has 2 flange variations, so that makes 12 models we'll have to make from scratch on Saturday. Be ready to get into it, we may have to assign 2 bridges per person.

Matt will be in charge of making the DXF's. Team members, especially returners, will be responsible for making decisions on what will go into each design. Everyone will be responsible for analysis on Saturday. Let's be methodical and cold, and get it done with a numbing efficiency. We need clear numbers for each bridge so we can DECIDE.

After analysis, Phil and Matt, and anybody who wants to join in, will be TIGging model bridges out of steel. Each model will be approx. 2 feet long so we can get an idea of how everything looks in 3D (i.e. structural behaviour, assembly etc.). Should be fun. Phil and Matt will coordinate getting more steel to fabricate the models, which will consist of making a simple CAD model, getting dimensions and sizes set, cutting, grinding, and TIG welding the suckers together.

Okay, that's it, get ready to put forth one final analytical effort. ANY NEW DESIGNS ARE WELCOME, IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA, DON'T BE SHY.

It takes a vision to start something wonderful...

...but engineers to finish it.

Getting Down to it.

Last Saturday, or Causeway Saturday, we took a closer look at some of the trusses we've been analyzing. The Monster looked better with slightly modified flanges on the deck, it came out lighter and stiffer, so kudos there. The others were about the same, a little lighter, but not much else.

We also tried analyzing a multiple beam set, which didn't do so well, but if it's stiff enough, it might make it worthwhile. Matt's going to buy the beams for a field test as soon as he can (maybe...$$$ concern).

This Tuesday we had a Construction Rules Quiz, and it is evident that new Team members need to read the Rules more often and become more and more familiar with them as the season progresses. We also need to learn how to speak up! It's okay to talk and be vocal, if you aren't sure ask. Time to break out of the mental shell and be a real engineer. Talk, and with volume! ;-)
After the Construction Quiz we discussed some of the best bridges. New bridge ideas are dwindling, so we'll have to decide what it is we want to do with the ones we have. We have to think about, and possibly tinker with the assembly design, all of the following:

Constructability - # members, # bolts, reachability of certain nodes, risk potential, assembly location, connection type.

Lightness - weight of connections, weld weight, what needs more wall thickness, what can do with ultra-thin wall (i.e. web, wide OT)

Stiffness - Depth vs. beam-like truss vs. how stiff can we get a beam.

Lots of discussion coming up before we decide, be prepared to listen and state your beliefs.

11/14 Notes and about Saturday 11/18

Hey Chrome-O's,

This Tuesday Jessica and Matt summarized what we've analyzed so far:

Bis Vs
Monstro
Everest
Chichen Itza

As of right now, the Everest Truss looks too unstable, and has safety issues for construction that, quite frankly we shouldn't have to worry about. We're trying to get a solid structure and minimize construction risk, as our construction score counts for quite a bit this season.

We also noted that weight is a big factor in our structural score, so all design will be on a diet plan to a certain extent. Roughly 75%, 25%, weight to deflection (if our deflection range is reasonable on average)

Think about construction in the meantime, we have to put this baby together in our best time ever if we're going to win at Mid-Pac. The 2005 effort was our best yet at 3 minutes 38 seconds, with an immense amount of practice mind you. Last season's effort was also very solid, but imagine how fast we'd have been if we didn't rebuild the entire overtruss after Mid-Pac. That's 3 more weeks of practice!!!

THERE WILL BE A COMPREHENSIVE CONSTRUCTION QUIZ ON TUESDAY NOV. 22ND!!! So be ready to answer question correctly -- there may even be rules pertaining to the clarifications on the AISC NSSBC competition page found here:

http://http://www.aisc.org/
(follow the links to student design competitions)

THIS SATURDAY 11/18:
Well, it's no secret to those that've been showing up. We're getting very efficient at analyzing, and with the turnout, we are ahead of schedule. This weekend, and this weekend only, will be the last effort to try new things. The weeks following will require some fine tuning, and narrowing the decision. Jessica and Matt will have models ready for input and analysis - there should be about 4 or 5 workable designs.

Sac State will be in town this Sat. We play at 1:05 p.m. at Toomey Field - All current students can get free tix so long as they show up early and check in with Aggie Pack on the East Side of the "Stadium" - 11 am would be safe, maybe even sooner, don't know how crazy everyone is going to be. Gates open at 11:45 a.m. - this game, the 53rd Annual Causeway Classic, will be televised (pause for laughter of the I-A university football schools reading) so that's an added bonus, tape the game, maybe see yo'self on tv.

Our analysis checks for this Saturday will include:

Monstro - with modified deck flanges, I-Beam NDSU style I guess you could say, but the geometric centroidal depth in SAP will go up 1/2". Sweet.

Big Vs - again with I-beam like tubular flanges.

Chichen Itza - with the new flanges again.

Matt will also develop his "Lowrider" beam deck - it will be a special case, and hopefully, he can organize a trial loading of the PDM Model very soon to see if it's worth it. This will be our first beam-style analysis.

BASIC rule of thumb for analysis to final product, is that the shallower your bridge is, the smaller the margin is for error. Deeper bridges tend to deflect closer to that analyzed. We may have to elevate the pin connections atop the piers for the beam to be effective.

Okay, ramble on! I know.

See you Saturday -- again, good luck with continuing mid-terms.

And so we design and analyze on! Remember to read the construction rules AND clarifications.













Having dreams is common, being crazy enough to make them reality, that's Chrome Ollie.

Two new ones 11/11

Sweet day of analysii today.

The Monstro and the Everest were analyzed today. Both have their good aspects, especially Everest, it's very buildable with a few extra bolts at midspan. Monstro looked good despite it's lack of depth.

On advice from Jessica, we'll try the Big V's a bit shallower to see how it performs, we need to reach up top, and quite frankly we've only got one 6 footer on the Team right now.

Tuesday, November 14th at 6:10 p.m. is our next meeting. We'll meet in the Chrome Ollie Loft in 1203 Bainer Hall. Discussion will include the numbers for all four trusses we've looked at so far, we need to talk constructability concerns, lateral arrangements, and sequence, because that will most likely determine the final decision. After making a decision here in the next couple of weeks, we need to concentrate on building the best bridge possible and then get it ready for practice at San Jo this April.

On the football front: NDSU killed Cal Poly, Sac State lost to Matt's hometown PSU Vikings. The Cal Poly loss is bad for the Aggies, as it makes Univ. of San Diego look better to the I-AA playoff committee. UC Davis has already agreed to bow out of the Nov. 25th contest with the Toreros in the event that they make the playoffs (we are playoff ineligible until next year). Right now we're at 4-5, and a win against Sac State and USD would ensure our 38th consecutive winning season. So everybody needs to show up at Toomey on the 18th for the 53rd Causeway Classic, after that, it's in the committee's hands as to whether or not USD will come to town...not that anybody will be there, it's Thanksgiving.

Design/Analyze on...

p.s. - Granite just chipped in for $2000 - this means we might be able to buy those test girders from PDM. Matt will get the quote from PDM on that, while Jessica checks with Dillsburg on those sizes to see if we get to go into a deeper tinker on the best choices so far.

Excellent!

Struts

This may have been previously stated, but here it is again.

Don't know who's reading this, if anybody at all...from Davis let alone across the country.

DON'T USE STRUTS (or more simply - angled braces going from bottom of pier to underdeck and/or up into the truss). All they do is kick out the bottom of your free standing foundation and cause more rotation/moment into the critical areas at midspan. Keep it flat, even hinged if possible. Do not strut, no matter what John Travolta says, it's a waste of time and energy. Focus your efforts into keeping a truss or a beam as flat as possible. If you do anything, batter your piers like they do on highway bridges, do not strut.

November 7th

Well, it's election night, if you haven't voted and are reading this at 8:05 pm then it's too late. Shame on you for not voting!!!

Looks like Dems are taking a few more seats, whether or not they gain control of the House and/or Senate we'll see after tonight.

On the Steel Bridge front:

We analyzed on Saturday, November 4th, before the NDSU game (which we lost in heartbreak fashion due to an uninspired 2nd half). The two bridges were the Chichen Itza Truss and the Big V's. Both are very deep and buildable, they both gave great numbers, some a little, ummm, TOO great, so upon further investigation there were definitely some input errors. It's okay though, it was a tough assignment for first time analyzers. Jessica and Matt will reinput each bridge and check the beginning values for each design. In all there were about 40 or 50 scenarios total for all 6 bridge variations of these two designs.

This Saturday, November 11th, we'll be at it again with two new fresh designs, maybe three, if Matt can find some time in an ever-expanding schedule (thanks Thai Bobby). They'll be much, much simpler, so the new analysis team can get some confidence, but don't think they're insignificant, because they may very well end up being our design choice.

So, Saturday, Nov. 11th, at 10 a.m. in the Chrome Ollie Loft of 1203 Bainer Hall.

Take it easy, good luck with continuing mid-terms!!!

Halloween Mtg. & 11/4 Analysis

10/31

Happy Halloween everybody!

Real quickly today we talked about two truss designs we're going to analyze this Saturday before the Aggies take on North Dakota State at the Toom. They're primarily built for speed, and have a LOT of construction options on them, as well as a stellar structural profile. If they analyze well, we may very well have finished our truss analysis for the season. Kickoff for the game is 1:05 p.m. local.

Open bay beams will be analyzed in conjunction with the structural optimization class (ECI 153) on campus. Chosen for their relative simplicity (and absolute boringness), the class should be able to spit some numbers back at us, that we more or less already know. The key to the beams functioning structurally, as with any design, but moreso on beams, is their connection solidarity. They may even have to be structurally bolted to work well, dovetails may leave too much play. Then there's the idea of multiple beam-type bridges.

So...this Saturday, 11/4, at 9:30 a.m. we'll meet in the Chrome Ollie Loft in 1203 Bainer Hall, then trek over to EUIII on the 3rd floor student labs where we will input AutoCAD wireframes in SAP 2000 and analyze those two truss designs with the section sizes we think we can get our hands on in 4130 alloy. We may have to hit up the mother supplier in Dillsburg to find what we need and/or want. i.e. wide/thin-wall material. The SAP procedure is pretty simple, it's step by step, and the more you do it the more you'll see how easy it is.

Jessica will work on OT collars soon. They're pretty basic lathe stuff, nothing fancy, but we need to get tolerances down to acceptable levels now, so it won't stall us this winter.

Okay then, time to start charging ahead, let's continue to think and be creative, we have a lot to decide on in the next 5 weeks...

10/24 Meeting & THIS Saturday

Hey gang,

On Tuesday, 10/24 we had a Rules quiz. We covered the absolute fundamental things everybody on the Team needs to know in the Quiz. Basic dimensions and design envelope, member requirements, some basic construction considerations, as well as others.

Correct answers got rewarded with some nice Scooby Snacks, wrong answers were punished with the usual caning across the back. Despite the punishment, most everybody was willing to try for the answer, which was refreshing.

THIS Saturday 10/28 at 10 a.m. -- we'll have a very serious and considerate design/analysis meeting. Hopefully, Matt will have design packages ready for analysis, as well as design folders for each new member detailing the many bridge types we have on the platter this fall. Analysis should go quickly once we get going as it has been streamlined to the bare necessities over the past 4 seasons...now it's just a matter of monitoring weight (including weld and connection weight), and fine tuning the fabrication process yet again.

Notes on fab:
1. We're going to try to get that girder/or truss deck up to it's maximum depth possible. This will require a mock up model of the new, uber-efficient dovetail design with the advanced alloy form Pierce-Spafford or ABC in Sac.

2. We need to plan for the possibility of a floor-flat welding procedure of a truss if that design is chosen. The NDSU procedure looked awesome, it's like doing a beam, just on a bigger scale, and it will alleviate the need for excess clamping (though there is not such a thing), but it will help keep things from falling on our craniums.

3. Need to make OT collars.

4. Need to re-examine Dovetail redundancy :(i.e. fab/test/research/analysis/results/implementation of new sizes) -- added depth means less axial force, so we don't need as much DT mass as before. Beams are another story.

Okay, one day at a time, non-stop, push to perfection, Unity! (yes, I'm doing the Dave Chappelle voice) Chrome Ollie por vida.

p.s. - for the unmotivated: Chico beat us at Nationals last season, let alone 7 other teams, GET ASSIGNMENTS, GET IN THE LAB, GET IN THE SHOP!!! GET 'ER DONE!

10/17 general meeting # 2 notes

Alrighty!

We talked a little about construction first thing on Tuesday. We went over the basics of the site plan, staging areas, rivers, penalties etc. etc. After getting a look at the 2005 site plan, we watched the UC Davis 2005 construction run in Orlando, all 3 min. and 38 seconds of it, point out some basic rules, tool ideas, penalty concerns, what's different fom that year to this year, and basically got a feel for how the construction run goes.

After watching the 2005 UC Davis run, we watched the 2006 University of Florida run from Gainesville. We discussed the main rule changes from 2005 to 2006, how the course was different, and asymmetry played a part in the construction sequence, the need to make things reachable, yet keep the bridge stiff as a whole, etc. etc.

When film was concluded, we went out to the front of Bainer to check out the 2007 Construction course, got a feel for the size of it, the distances needed to be travelled, the friggin' walls that will be in the way, the bigger pier boxes, the 9 foot river, the basic span length and lack of skew as in the previous (2K5 & 2K6) years. Questions were answered, and then we moved on to a design rant by Matt.

Matt explained the basics of bridge design which primarily are driven by the Scoring. We noted how Construction as well as Structural Efficiency measured the value of a bridge. Both of these issues must be addressed to have a good bridge.

Going from the bottom up, or simplest to most complex, some bridge ideas were set forth by Matt, from beams, to stacked beams, to multiple beams. to trusses, the bridge type selection will be an interesting choice.

Connections, Analysis Methods, Scoring Scenarios, Steel Sizes we typically use, and Member Layouts will all be discussed next time, Tuesday, October, 24th, at 6:10 pm starting in 1213 Bainer. There will also be a Rules quiz, with a reward for the Top 5 Scores, ties included!

Analysis will also start Saturday, October 28th, in EUIII, we'll pick some bridges on Tuesday, the 24th for analysis, and we'll go through the basic SAP2000 input procedure. Anybody wishing to stay and optimize is welcome to on Sat the 28th!!!

Okay, that's it for now, READ THOSE RULES, highlight them if it helps, if you have questions, email the captains or email the rules committee on the AISC website below (just go to Question Submittal Form), though for basic stuff I'm sure returners can answer the Q's just fine:

http://www.aisc.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Learning_Opportunities/University_Programs/Student_Competitions1/AISC_Student_Steel_Bridge_Competition/Default329.htm

New Stuff

10/10 Tuesday General Meeting was great. A lot of young blood showed up, and we got to talk a little bit about the competition, what it involves, and the need to read and understand the Rules. We also took a look at last year's Bridge and answered some design/analysis/fabrication questions.

Next Meeting will again be on Tuesday, 10/17, at 6:10 p.m. in 1213 Bainer (and later out in front of Bainer Hall - on the East side of the building).

We'll head out to the front of Bainer and get a look at the 2007 Construction site, maybe watch some film and answer some more questions. We'll probably start talking design and analysis very soon too, most likely Saturday 10/21!

Hope to see everyone again, hang in there!