Model and Full Scale Testing Award 2011
The Institution of Structural Engineers Model and Full The Model and Full Scale Testing Award promotes awareness amongst students about the potential of physical testing as part of the design process.
Charlie Banthorpe, a graduate of the MEng in Civil and Architectural Engineering has won a commendation in the 2011 awards for his report on The Dynamic Response of Planar Reciprocal Structures.
In his study, seven floor structures (two conventional straight-joist structures and five reciprocal frame structures) were subjected to modal analysis and static tests. An electrodynamic shaker was used to induce forced vibrations into the structures, and the response was measured using displacement transducers and accelerometers. The natural frequency was identified graphically, and the damping ratio to be calculated using the half-power bandwidth method.
Results suggest that the dominant factors in determining the natural frequency of a floor structure are mass and stiffness, with geometry having no apparent effect. The damping ratio, however, did show a relationship to number of joists, with more damping measured in the structures with a greater number of joints.
The University of Bath has a long association with success in this award with successful entrants from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering in previous years including Ralph Pelly and Tom Goss (2010), Phil Isaac (2009), Kevin Hares, Rob Jeans and Oliver Neve (2008), Gary Corden (2007) and Clayton Binkley (2006).
