Introduction
Welcome to week 2! We are going to look a membrane structures, such as bat’s wings and sails on junks, and then explore how structures absorb, transmit and dissipate energy.
Course: Understanding Superstructures
Wrap up
Structures support life. Without structures, we would just have random heaps of parts. At the beginning of the design process we should ask three questions about a structure: Why do …
Crushing & Toppling Towers
Introduction You should be able to perform this exercise in your kitchen using the equipment usually found there plus a block of processed cheese. Objective To estimate the critical height …
Course Introduction
A very warm welcome to our course, ‘Understanding Super Structures.’ The course is aimed at anyone with a desire or need to learn more about the mechanics of solids and …
Week 1 Introduction
A brief overview of what’s coming this week including a discussion about the purpose, material and form of structures, together with a look how some structures are lazy. We will …
Course Farewell
The End! Eann reflects on the course and the role of teachers and engineers in our lives. We have done quite a few things differently in this online course and …
Wrap Up
We started this week by looking at the way in which many structures resemble gigantic tubes, including airliners, ships, long-span bridges and sky-scrapers; and, examined the need to reinforce them …
Introduction
Welcome to our final week. Last week we piled on the stress in more ways than one. This week we are going to do it quickly; in other words, we …
Introduction
Last week was about bending of beams and statically indeterminate structures. This week we will look at what happens when structures experience bending, torsion and tension simultaneously and how the …
Introduction
Last week was about shells and shafts – membrane stress, shear stress and energy. This week is about beams and redundancy – bending and imaginary deformations. Watch the video for …
Worked Example: Femoral Stresses
In the next paragraph a problem is described for you to solve using the material that we have covered in the course so far. Have a go at solving this …
Wrap Up
This week you should gained an understanding of the meaning of stress and strain – you can find a recap on the definitions in the pdf below. We looked at …
