Earthquake Engineering Research InstituteUniversity of Notre Dame

San Andreas FaultCalifornia

BODY WAVESSURFACE WAVES

US Risk Map: Earthquakes

How can we protect the lives of those in danger? We must design buildings that can survive earthquakes!

What are buildings made of?

Companies consisting of 3 or 4 partnersCompany nameNeed teamwork and planning Partner tasksBuilding ownerArchitectEngineerBuilder

Use LEGO blocks to make masonry buildingsBase must be no bigger than 4 by 8 Lego dotsMust be at least 30 stories high

What goes into designing our building?Owner pays for the building wants to make money must have lots of rooms, especially rooms with windows, and be very tall

What goes into designing our building?Architect designs the building to meet the owners needs and to be beautiful

What makes a beautiful building?

What goes into designing our building?Engineers help to design the building to make sure it does not collapse under the forces of nature

Hints: Ground Floors Should Be Sturdy

Hints: Avoid the weak links!

Hints: Dont be top heavy!

ConstructionThe builder is responsible for constructing the building based on the final design.Hint: Be sure the blocks are firmly pressed togetherconnections are important!

Example Buildings

What kind of buildings are made of masonry?

Are all the worlds buildings made of masonry?

History of the SkyscraperAncient structures were masonry designs in which the strength comes from brick wallsTowers like the Washington Monument (1884) could reach 555 feet Human Pyramid: Too heavy!

History of the SkyscraperImportant inventions at the end of the 1900sSteel!ElectricityELEVATORS!1st skyscraper used a steel skeleton (frame) instead of brick walls: Reliance Building (1891) in Chicago

History of the SkyscraperTodays skyscrapers have skeletons made of steel which carries all the weightThis had allowed us to to build exciting structures and allowed us to reach new heightsTrans America BuildingSan Francisco (1972)853 ft

What does a steel frame building look like?

Beams

Columns

Frame

Skin, glass (cladding)

Only two teamsRepresents steel frame structuresCreate a beautiful, landmark structureMaximize rent by having more stories and larger useable space to make the owner happy

Base must be no bigger than 15x30 cm (1 red x 2 red)Must be able to connect to a Knex board Must be at least 2 m highThe height of a useable floor is at least 7.5 cm (blue)

Do masonry and steel frame buildings behave differently under earthquakes?

Steel Buildings Dance!These building skeletons are flexible, they can bend!

Lego BuildingShake TableController

Testing Day3 minute company presentationsAwards will be presented!Final project report from each company

Good Luck!

National Science Foundation Scientists and Engineers in the Schools Program

They occur all over the world, along plate edges and along faults.Plates are pieces of the earths crust. These plates actually move due to the motion of the earths mantle. Continental plates.When the plates bump into each other or slide past each other, earthquakes occur.

Earthquakes can also occur far from the edges of plates, along faults or cracks in the earth where sections of the plates are moving in different directions.Two pieces of the earths crust are moving in opposite directions, they may suddenly break. Knuckles example.When they break, there is a sudden release of energy causing seismic waves that make the ground shake.

Body waves travel through the earths inner layers.Love waves move quickly side to side. Rayleigh waves roll just like ocean waves, it causes much of the shaking felt in earthquakes.WE DID THIS SORT OF IN HWSOUTHERN INDIANA JUST HAD ONE LAST WEEKHuman pyramid example