03_Peter YAO workshop

Studio 3:

• Activity: workshop

Part of the week 3 studio, we were divided into 3 groups of 3 making a structure of span with the range of 1 meter, and then destroy it by applying a vertical point force at the middle area. According to Ching (2008: 2.20), “the spanning capability of horizontal elements determines the spacing of their vertical supports”, this activity is a practice of structural spans.

1. The provided materials are: 2 35*35mm timber 1 18*45mm compressed wood block

2. Tools used:

Bench hook

Saw

Dril l

90o fixer

Hammer

And screws and finishing brad nails.

Description: Bench hook: it is a base to avoid any damage to the table when cutting the timber with a saw and also it has a function of fixing the position of timber.

Drill: the tool to fasten a screw into timber instantly.

3. Sketch of our group’s design:

Other groups’ design:

The real product of our group:

The making process:

More details of the product:

4. Deconstruction: The 1st group:

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Pic 4 As we can see from the process of deconstruction of this design, the structure of this design is a truss. As the point force increases, the unbounded area which is shown in the red circle of Pic 3 is curving due to compression. The strongest part is the T-­‐shape area which is supported by a section of 35x35mm timber. Although the wood block has a strong load when place it vertically, it is important to reduce the span so that it will not bend. This type of structure loaded 11.5 rounds of the vertical force.

The 2nd group:

Pic 5

Pic 6

Pic 7

Pic 8

It is clear that group 2 wants to make a triangular structure as isosceles triangle is more stable than others. However, the same problem has occurred. The unbounded areas of 2 pieces of wood block started to curve as the force increases. Besides that, the finishing brad nail breaks the structure of the timber which leads the timber to crack.

The 3rd group:

Pic 10

Pic 9

Pic 11 Pic 12

Pic 13 This is our group’s design; the main part is the 18x45mm wood block as it has a stronger vertical load capacity. Then we try to stabilize it by put 35x35mm timber on the both sides. During the deconstruction process, we found that the weakness of this design is the knot and the place that has screw inside. As it is shown in Pic 12, the knot breaks the whole structure of the timber. As a result, the timber cracks. Meanwhile, the screw near the knot also destroys the comprehensiveness of the timber because of the timber grain which is indicated in Pic 13. This design loaded 12.5 rounds of the vertical force. Perhaps, if the knot is on the upper side, and the screw is drilled against the timber grain, the strength of the whole structure would be able to improve.

Reference: Ching, F.D.K 2008, building construction illustrated 4th ed., John Wiley&Sons Inc., New Jersey.