UQ engineering students bring down the roof to get hands-on experience

First-year engineering students watched as roofs buckled during a hands-on research project at the University.

Associate Professor Graham Baker, from the Civil Engineering Department, said 13 student teams had been asked to build a one-metre square model of a roof 'loosely based on the Brisbane Convention Centre'.

'All they had to work with was basic engineering tuition and simple analytical skills. There was no restriction on form or material as long as it was available from regular hardware stores, but their models were to be mechanically sound,' he said.

'With capacity-to-weight ratio as a major design consideration, we then tested the structures to failure by applying loads using testing machinery in the Structural Engineering Laboratory.

'All of the models performed very well and in terms of load efficiency many of the students came up with very sensible designs. There was also emphasis on aesthetics which is just as important in the real world.'

Ove Arup & Partners principal Chris Gildersleeve, who recently presented a lecture on the design of the Brisbane Convention Centre, was guest judge.

Dr Baker said the models ranged in weight from just over 100 grams to more than 32 kilograms and withstood forces ranging from 170 Newtons to 18 kilo (18,000) Newtons.

Having seen the way their models failed, students spontaneously began to discuss improvements to their designs, Dr Baker said.

Team members Zac McGain, Laurisa Fritz, Jennifer Woodgate, Trent Bulmer, Miriam Smith, Alan Wu and Ben Hyde said they had built their roof with dowel, red cedar, pine, fishing line and glue.

And although its supports began to twist, the roof passed the stress test at 580 Newtons, surprising the team who 'definitely thought it would break well before that', according to Ms Fritz.

'But the whole exercise puts the theory into practice and that's a great way to learn.'

For more information contact Associate Professor Graham Baker on telephone 07 3365 3912