Technologies 1º ESO

Mila Castillo

December 2014

Artificial and natural

structures

Every living being as well as every object we create need a structure that give them stability, rigidity and resistance.

Vaulted structures

• The arch was a good solution to enable builders to cover larger spaces. They bear compression stresses and don’t need neither mortar nor cement to be self-supporting.

• Vaulted structures has been used to construct magnificient cathedral and other buildings. They are still used today

Semi-circular Arch

Lobed Arches

Horseshoe Arches

Pointed arches

Massive structures

The first human-made structuras

were carved from rock or used

natural pieces of stone to build

them

Rolled and plate structures

Some structures are made from thin sheets of metal, plastic or other materials. As they can be bent, they are very resistant. The ridges on a plastic cup and on different construction materials give rigidity to the structures, that is, they are difficult to deform

Lattice structures

Modern buildings or flats are bear by a set of pillars and beams. These structural elements are sujected to compression, traction, bending, torsion and shear streesses. A foundation avoid the structure from sinking into the ground.

Triangulated structures

Metal and wood bars are used to build triangulated structures. They are very light, versatile and resistant. They can cover large spaces, as well as get great heights.

Suspended structures

Suspended atructures are hung from cables called tie rods. They can only bear traction stresses. They can adapt their shape to different loads at different times.

Pneumatic structures

Compressed air give the pneumatic structure the chance to be very light and versatile. The whole structure can be pneumatic or only paart of them, such as the arches. They are frequently used in funfair attarctions.

Geodesic structures

They are three dimentional triangulated structure. They combine the valuable properties of the vaulted and the lattice structures.

The main shape used is the tetrahedrom.