Earthquake Resistant Design (Shake It Up)

Problem:

I am trying to figure out which building method is best to withstand earthquakes out of 3 different styles.

Hypothesis:

I expect building methods from Japan and other earthquake ridden areas to do best.

Procedure:

1. Research buildings in Haiti, Japan, and America to see what I should and shouldn’t do.

2. Build three houses out of popsicle sticks and other materials, one based on the things that shouldn’t be done, and two showing different methods of what should be done

3. Build a shake table

4. Test each house with low shake, medium shake, and maximum shake and time how long it takes for the house to topple.

5. Based on results build a fourth house using things that worked well.

6. Test fourth house.

Conclusion:

To conclude, my hypothesis was right, however I think I approached the experient aspect the wrong way. I think that while yes this did show the houses placing the way most would assume they would prior to experimentation I believe that using a shake table was not the best way to have measured this. A shake table shakes the house from the ground which doesn’t account for the wind or the movement above the ground. So while I do feel this experiment was useful I do feel it would’ve turned out better had there been an alternative way mimicking an earthquake. Aside from that set back this project turned out pretty well. It taught me about the different things people are doing to prevent house damage during these events and it showed me how people in other parts of the world live. The tests could’ve been improved with a different earthquake method, but other than that I wouldn’t change it one bit.

Abstract:

Earthquake Proof Houses

For my science fair project I decided to put house designs to the test to see which one held up best against earthquakes and why. I determined that I would build three houses; one based on a Haitian house, one based on an average American house, and one based on modern Japanese earthquake resistant houses. I decided to pick this because I wanted to do a building project, but I also wanted to collect data. I said that the Japanese house would most likely do the best, because it’s intention is to be earthquake proof.

I approached this project by researching designs of these kinds of houses. I noted the different roof styles, base plates, and support patterns of each model. Later, using various materials, such as popsicle sticks, beads, and cardboard, I began building each house. For the Haitian house I built it with four walls, very little supports, and a flat roof. The American house was slightly different with more supports and a pitched roof. The Japanese house was the last one that I did. I built the house with the same supports as the American model and a flat roof, but I built it elevated from the ground inside a container of beads. I lined the container with soft dough to cushion the shakes. After all the houses were finished I got a shake table, made with 4 tennis balls, 2 planks of wood, and 2 rubber bands, and tested each one five times, I counted if the house toppled over or if it collapsed, timing the time it would take for it to fall.

The results I saw were wild. The Haitian house averaged 3.79 seconds to topple over, which was very surprising to me, because I honestly thought it would do better. The American house averaged 6.91 second which was shocking because it wasn’t that much higher than the Haitian house. Finally the Japanese house averaged 10.75 which was much higher than the other two tests. The results very much puzzled me.

To conclude, my hypothesis was right, however I think I approached the experient aspect the wrong way. I think that while yes this did show the houses placing the way most would assume they would prior to experimentation I believe that using a shake table was not the best way to have measured this. A shake table shakes the house from the ground which doesn’t account for the wind or the movement above the ground. So while I do feel this experiment was useful I do feel it would’ve turned out better had there been an alternative way mimicking an earthquake. Aside from that set back this project turned out pretty well. It taught me about the different things people are doing to prevent house damage during these events and it showed me how people in other parts of the world live. The tests could’ve been improved with a different earthquake method, but other than that I wouldn’t change it one bit.