SPC 208 - Statics of Rigid and Elastic Bodies

Dr. Samir
Abohadima

Balsa Wood Tower Project

Introduction:
When teaching engineering mechanics, instructors are challenged to create realistic, hands on, intuitive design
experiences at an early stage in the students development. This paper describes a balsa wood tower design
competition will be used in the Statics Course at Zewail University to motivate the learning of the concepts of
static equilibrium and tower analysis.
Balsa wood projects have been used to promote learning at several educational levels. In
this particular student design project, the student must first build a solver for any 3D tower,
analyze the forces in each member of a tower, then determine the cross-sectional
dimensions of each tower member and finally build and load test the tower.
1. Project Description:
The objective of this tower design competition is for a team of 2-3 students to design
and build a balsa wood tower that can be used in wind turbines. The tower should hold
a minimum 30 kg load then load increases till the tower fail. The allowable tower height
from 30 to 50 cm. The tower width and depth should be from 9 cm to 25 cm. The efficient
ratio of the tower test load at the failure/ weight of the tower. The tower with the
maximum efficient ratio is the winner. There is 5 marks on the 3D truss solver. The only
material used is balsa wood and glue. Each team should analyze the tower and make a
failure analysis. Failure analysis consists of two parts:

a- Calculations: Using 3D Truss solver to solve and optimize

your tower; every team should define the maximum
allowable load supported by the truss before testing
(failure analysis, taking into consideration that factor o
safety = 25%).
b- CAD model: Using any appropriate CAD software
(Solidworks, proengineer, Catia, etc); a team should
know when the design will fail (under vertical load).

Each group submits a design report which includes a

scale showing all tower dimensions, the member force
analysis calculations, and the member size design. The
member size design should be summarized in a single
table as shown for a simple three member tower) in
Table 1.

Member
Number

Force (N)

Tension or
Compression

Size (mm
*mm)

Max Force

Factor of
Safety
(Min. 25%)

AB
AC
CD

25
50
35

T
C
T

2*2
4*2
6*8

35
65
70

40%
30%
100%

2. PROJECT SCHEDULE:
Week No.
Project
7
Tower Project Launch
11
Tower Solver
12
Failure analysis + Report
15
Fabricated Tower Delivery + Testing +Final
Report

3. Project Monitoring and Grading :

The project grade accounts for 20% of the class grade. The first 5 grades are for the implementation of a 3D
truss solver. Every student should implement a solver individually. There are 5 grades for failure analysis. 5
grades are based on the performance of the tower, and the other 5 grades is based on the final report.

The next two weeks, every student is requested to submit the code which will be judged based on the
creativity and accuracy of the code. Another two weeks provided to finish the failure analysis and submitting
a report for the final design of the tower.
The next two weeks are dedicated to fabricate and test the tower. Tower performance grade is then assigned
based on the load-to-weight ratio of each with a 40 percent penalty for designs that do not hold the entire 30
KG design load. The load-to -weight ratios of all the towers in the class are ranked from highest to lowest,
and 0.25 is deducted from the performance grade, for each place a given tower is lower in the standings.
Thus, for a class with a total of 10 teams, the lowest possible performance grade is 2.5 out of five if the tower
holds the full load, and zero if the tower failed without standing with any load. The objective of the
performance grading system is to encourage students to optimize the design by making the tower as light as
possible, while including a reasonable factor of safety to account for the variability of construction quality
and balsa wood strength.
Submittals shall be turned in on the dates indicated for instructor review. Late submittals will have 5%
deducted from the grade for every day they are late!

4. CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES & MATERIALS

It is important to emphasize the importance of building a straight and square tower. If a tower is bowed,
skewed, or twisted, it will hold only a fraction of its full design strength. One way to enable good tower
construction is to draw a full scale sketch of the tower on a sheet of paper, then build each tower panel on top
of the sketch. The right and left chord members are placed on the paper first, with tape or a drop of glue to

hold them in place, and the web members are then cut to length with a knife or scissors by first holding them
in position over the chords to mark the location and angle of the cut. This provides a nicely mitered joint,
which can then be reinforced with 2-mm thick plates cut from balsa wood sheet stock.
The right and left chord members are best constructed by starting with one continuous length of balsa wood, and
then laminating pieces to it in the middle region where the higher loads require a thicker cross-section. It is very
difficult to construct straight chords by piecing them together in shorter lengths from joint-to-joint.
To keep chords in place when connecting the two tower panels together, one can tape the chords to a sheet of paper
with two parallel lines drawn on it. To keep the tower square and plumb, the towers can be held in a vertical position
with a carpenters square or other rectangular object while the cross members are glued into place. In addition, all
cross members should be cut to the same length.
Balsa wood is available in 1 m lengths in Samir & Ali, but for the quantities used for a class of over fifty students,
you can order balsa in bulk deal so you can get the best price.
Students are also encouraged to perform a simple flexure test on their balsa wood to cull out the weaker pieces. To
test the balsa stock, all pieces of a given size are cantilevered the same distance off the edge of a table, then a coin is
hung from the end of each member and the deflection is measured. The weaker pieces of balsa wood will deflect
much more, so precise measurements are not necessary.
Cyanoacrylate (CA), commonly known as Super Glue, is used for connections. Using CA saves construction time
because it cures so quickly. Joints can be glued by simply holding the members in place for a few seconds. Larger
bottles of CA are available from hobby stores, and are much easier to use than the small squeeze tubes more
commonly available in stores.

5. Load testing:
Each tower is weighed by an official, and then impounded for protection. The loading
apparatus is relatively simple; please refer to figures for a photo of the testing apparatus.
Wood base that holds four supports for tower failure, a circular tube in the middle with 100 cm
height, 9 cm2 cross sectional area to hold the tower and weights applied on it. Between tower
and weights there is a plate that will hold weights and distribute the load normally on the tower
head.

6. Project Report (5 marks):

A team will deliver a full detailed report in load testing day about all work is done
(calculations, modeling, fabrication, difficulties, pre-delivery tests, etc.

The final report must include the following information for the final tower fabricated:

A drawing showing the dimensions and individual member forces in the main
tower panel. Use standard drafting practices (straight edge, drawn to a given
scale).

A design summary table showing the force (N), length, size (no of strands)
(cm), Factor of Safety, and total volume of balsa wood required for each
member.

Complete, detailed tower analysis calculations (method of joints) used to

determine the member forces.

Fabrication.

CAD Model

Failure analysis.

Some Useful information about Balsa Strength:

The compressive strength of balsa wood is approximately 15.5 MPa and the tension strength is around 23 MPa.
Stress = Force / Area or Force = Stress x Area
Compression Stress = 15.5 MPa
If you are using balsa sectional area = 3mm x 3mm = 9 mm2
Therefore: Max Compression Force = 15.5 x 9 = 139.5 N
This is the theoretical maximum compressive force that can be applied to any one member (about 14 kg).
When in tension balsa wood is stronger, but mainly because it doesnt bend and buckle under the tensile load, so
members in tension can exceed this loading value.

Be creative
Good Luck