By: Daniel Guadron, Kunal Jani, Parth Shah (PM) & Stephen Shiffer
Adviser: Dr. N. Al-Omaishi
Each year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), sponsor a National Student Steel Bridge Competition (NSSBC) to simulate a design-build scenario, taking into consideration client specifications, efficiency and economy of design. Through examination of this year’s specifications, the steel structure should span no more than 17 feet in length, with a minimum of a 3 foot 6 inch cantilever section. It must also be assembled with members no greater than 3 feet by 6 inches by 4 inches in dimension, in the least amount of time, with the fewest number of team members. This simulates real-world construction efficiency of the structure. Upon construction, the bridge will be tested for its self-weight and vertical deflection due to the application of 1500 pounds on the simply supported section and 1000 pounds on the cantilever section. After preliminary design solutions, the final design is an inverse truss that is 16 feet in length with a minimum 3 feet 6 inch cantilever. It uses hollow steel tube and pipe section profiles with simple connections to account for a new faying surface specification. Furthermore, the design uses Grade 4130 Steel, and STAAD outputs deflection less than ½ inch, both vertically and laterally. For this semester, bolt design based on shear capacity and the abutment design will be completed. After fabrication of the bridge and construction practice, the Spring 2013 semester will conclude with participation in the Metropolitan Conference on April 27, 2012.