Analysis Desires

Using the WPBD software there were numbers given that allowed us to improve our bridge design to make it more stable. Working with Knex these numbers are not given. The WPBD software gave us Compression Force and strength and tension force and strength. It also told us when there was too much compression or tension force acting on the bars of the bridge. It would be nice to have these numbers when working with Knex because this information would allow us to make a better more efficient bridge. This is because we could remove the pieces that have no forces acting on them.

I believe that to find the tension forces we should work with force diagrams. Using a force diagram we would see the direction and the magnitude of the forces and see how we can build a bridge that can hold more weight. These calculations could also give us a pattern. Maybe longer beams can withstand the most force or maybe multiple shorter beams can withstand the most forces. The force diagram would look similar to:

The tension force could be pointing in different directions depending on where the beam is in comparison to where the weight is being placed.