Engineering mathimatics

Engineering mathematics

1011SCG – MATHEMATICS 1A
ASSIGNMENT 2 – 2014 Semester 3
Due week 10
TOTAL 100 MARKS
This is the first of two assignments that you will get in this course. It is worth 5% of your final
mark.

THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE BY 11 PM ON FRIDAY of WEEK 10 OF SEMESTER. THIS
ASSIGNMENT MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY TO QIBT THROUGH
TURNITIN. MORE INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU IN CLASS.
Read these instructions carefully
• Extensions must be requested in advance but will only be given in the most unusual
situations. Late submissions with no extension will be subject to QIBT’s late penalty
policy.
• The presentation of your answers matters a lot – you must explain what you are doing and
you must use proper mathematical notation (as used in texts, notes etc). Just writing an
answer without working is not enough.
• You must hand in a signed assignment cover page to your Lecturer/Tutor during the
first lesson after the assignment.
Guidelines for submitted work
• This is an academic assignment so it must be referenced. Include a Reference list at the
end of your assignment. You must cite all the different authors from different sources
(books, journals, electronic). Please do not use Wikipedia or other such non-refereed
sources.
• Start each new question on a new page.
• Conduct a spell check yourself and ensure you have a critical friend read and comment
on your English usage, grammar, punctuation and other technical issues.
• Please use Microsoft Word Equation to express any mathematical formulas needed, and
Microsoft Word to write the assignment.
• You may use graphical or drawing software to show your graphs.
• Please use size 12 font for any written work.
• Leave a wide margin on the left for feedback comments from your teachers.What is plagiarism
Plagiarism is when you submit work that is not yours. Even if you make slight changes in
symbols it is still plagiarism. Plagiarism is cheating and is wrong. If it is detected all the people
whose answers are extremely similar will get zero marks for the questions involved.
It is a good idea to discuss problems with other people. It is often helpful to work in study
groups, but you must write up your answers by yourself and your examples must be unique.
Any similarities identified with TURNITIN will be investigated and penalties will be applied in
line with QIBT academic integrity policy. This policy can be found at
http://policy.qibt.qld.edu.au/
Marking Criteria – Total 100%
Submitted report – 30%
Work done in class and verified by your tutor – 20%
Oral exam – 50%LEARNING GOALS:
• Research the cost of using different materials for constructing your bridge design.
• Model the equations needed to include all the costs related to building your bridge
design.

• Calculate the optimum cost of building the real bridge based on your design.
TASKS:
This exercise will introduce you to some of the tasks and decisions that engineers face.
Engineers continuously have to prepare proposals for jobs and therefore need to make
comparative cost analyses to determine what are the best options in materials and construction
processes.
Why is this important? Engineers need to carefully balance the cost of building a bridge (or any
structure) with their design choices. After all, we want bridges to be safe and not fail under the
loads that they are subjected to every day. And finally, the cost of building a bridge has to be
within an available budget.
The Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) has decided to invest in the building of a footbridge for one
of its parks. Your job is to provide the GCCC with your bridge design (scaled to their
specifications) and the optimum cost of building your bridge. You will choose two different
types of materials (suitable for this job). You will prepare two separate cost calculations for
your proposal and decide, based on your calculations and research, which will be the optimum
option for building your bridge. The GCCC will also take care of the bridge’s maintenance so this
does not need to be included in your costs. Your job is to calculate the cost of building the entire
3D-structure you designed in assignment 1 adjusted to meet the GCCC requirements. In your
proposal you must mention why your choice of materials is the best one.
According to the Foot Bridge Client Brief (see appendix A), you have already designed a bridge
(in assignment 1). You need to scale your design to fit into the criteria given in this appendix.
To calculate the cost of building a bridge you need to consider the site costs and the truss costs.
– Site costs include any required excavation plus the abutments and piers that
support the bridge and the bridge deck. This has already been provided by the
GCCC so you do not include it in your calculations.
– Truss costs include the materials and labour to build the truss.
– Construction time frame
• Use a standard truss template to get started
– Solid bars will only be consideredTo calculate the cost of the material used, you need to calculate the volume of all the parts of
the bridge, which will result in the total amount of material in the bridge. To calculate the
volume of each member you need to calculate the cross sectional area and multiply by the
length of each member, we will upscale the cross sectional area of the spaghetti and use it for
our calculations. The spaghetti we will be using will have a radius of 1mm and it is tubular
(shape of a tube). The cost of the material is calculated by its amount or weight. Once you have
calculated the total volume you need to multiply it by the cost of material per volume, to get the
entire cost of the material. The cost of labour and equipment are also major components, as
well as administrative costs. You need to research the cost of labour for the use of the materials
you have chosen. You will also need to find out the tensile/compressive strength of the material
you decide to use, you may refer to the Engineering Materials text book (if you have it), or this
can be easily found by doing some research on the internet.
You must use SI units in all your calculations.
Final discussion:
In your proposal research and discuss what factors are important in the cost of constructing
any bridge. Examples of elements you can mention are: cost of preliminary studies to gather
information on the site, choice of materials, amount of materials used, cost to transport
materials, construction equipment, cost of labour, cost for design and construction
management, and any others you may think of. Validate any example you use with appropriate
references.
Vocabulary/Definitions (“Cost comparisons – Activity”, 2014)
budget: The amount of money available for a project, such as creating a bridge.
cost: The amount of money needed to build a project, such as a bridge.
design: (verb) To plan out in systematic, often graphic form. To create for a particular
purpose or effect. Design a bridge. (noun) A well thought-out plan.
engineer: A person who applies her/his understanding of science and mathematics to
creating things for the benefit of humanity and our world.
engineering: Applying scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the
design, manufacture and operation of efficient and economical structures,
machines, processes and systems.
estimating: An accurate determination of the cost of the project (such as a bridge) before
construction begins.
girders: The “beams” of a bridge; usually horizontal members.
member: An individual angle, beam, column, plate or built piece intended to become an
integral part of an assembled frame or structure.
optimal
design:
Balancing the cost and design of the bridge so that the least amount of money
accomplishes the required task effectively.
piers: The “columns” of a bridge; usually vertical members.
SOME USEFUL LINKS AND RESOURCES
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/35894-howstuffworks-show-episode-12-steelbridges-video.htm
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/35616-extreme-engineering-constructing-abridge-video.htmAPPENDIX
A
Foot Bridge Client Brief
QIBT 2014.S3
1. Requirement
Calculate the costs associated with building the model prepared in your assignment 1 to be a
real footbridge in a Gold Coast park. Your model will have to be scaled because the real bridge
will have to be a minimum of 6.5m and a maximum of 7m.
You are to research the total optimum cost of building such a bridge. In your calculations you
will consider two types of materials and calculate the construction costs separately. Finally,
compare them and choose the one that best fits this job.
Please note that this is not a common way of estimating the price of a typical bridge, but the
purpose of this activity is to understand how to calculate the price knowing the cross sectional
area and the length of the members.
2. Specification
Specifications are the same as assignment 1, however, scaled to become a real footbridge. No
loadbearing calculations are required for this assignment.
3. Materials
The GCCC wants the bridge to be built of either: timber, steel, or aluminium, and (for this
project) we will ignore the cost of the connecting parts of the structure.
4. Bridge Design Criteria:
For your bridge to be successful, it MUST meet the design specifications and performance
criteria respectively:
The bridge MUST
1. be not less than 6.5m long (at the bottom) 2. be 1.02m high (from bottom supports to top) 3. be no more than 3m wide (for track to sit upon) 4. rest on two end supports only Cost Comparisons Example (“Cost comparisons – Activity”, 2014)
1. To estimate the cost of different length girders in concrete and steel, complete the table below.
Show all your work and calculations. Use the following information to complete your calculations:
1 cubic yard of concrete = 27 cubic feet of concrete
1 ton of steel = 4.08 cubic feet of steel
B L Length
Volume =
B x L x
Length
Volume
(cu.yd.) =
ft3 ÷ 27
Cost of
Concrete
Total Cost
Using
Concrete
Volume
(tons) =
ft3 ÷ 4.08
Cost of
Steel
Total Cost Using
Steel
1 ft 1
ft 20 ft 20 ft3 0.74
cu. yd.

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