Assignment # Name: Sam Warren Period: 2 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 19 centimeters tall can withstand an earthquake, then the design strategy of a wide base 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 #2 Group Height of Width of # of Anchored to Low # 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

11.5 8.5 10.0 19.5 15.0 13.5 9.6 13.5 6.5 14.0

6.0 4.0 9.3 13.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.0 8.8 13.0

4 0 0 8 3 7 6 3 9 9

No Yes No No No No No No Yes No

Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Flexible Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid Rigid

6 2 1 1 DQ 2 10 3 5 3

11 12 13

11.0 10.0 15.5

8.0 7.5 5.5

7 5 0

No No No

Yes Yes Yes

Rigid Rigid Rigid

1 13 3

Observations: Our model lasted 0 seconds. Before the shake test, it broke in 3 pieces. 4 toothpicks fell off our structure. The crusher hit it at least 3 times. Conclusion: According to the textbook on page 204-205 complex design strategies such as base isolators, shear walls, cross braces, dampers, tension ties, and flexible pipes are good design strategies because they help make seismic-safe buildings. In this lab we tested to see what design strategies keep structures safe in an earthquake. I hypothesized that our structure would be 19 cm tall and our most important strategy would be a wide base. Prior to the test, our structure fell over so we could not test how long it would last on the shake table. Zero groups finished the test. The one structure that was built with anchoring and the one structure with a flexible frame lasted over the class average time of 3.8 seconds. If there were more anchored and flexible structures, I think more would withstand the shake test if more people used a flexible frame and anchored. Twenty-three percent of the class built there structure under Ten centimeters. In conclusion, my hypothesis was incorrect. A flexible frame and anchoring were the most important factors in keeping the structures safe and minimizing damage during an earthquake.