University of Michigan Steel Bridge

Abstract

Este proyecto abarca el trabajo en grupo realizado por un conjunto de alumnos interdisciplinar en la Universidad de Michigan, junto con un análisis crítico de las técnicas utilizadas. El objetivo del equipo SBT es construir un puente de acero, para la competición internacional “Steel Bridge Team”. Dicho puente debe tener unas dimensiones, y características estructurales básicas preestablecidas. Las principales áreas para estudiar son el diseño y la fabricación del puente, dejando de lado el proceso de construcción, siendo esta área de mayor carácter deportivo-competitivo. En el diseño se ha optado por un puente ligero y con pocas piezas, sin arcos superiores, para simplificar así su posterior construcción. Por otro lado, en la fabricación, todo ha sido construido en Acero, y los principales procesos de fabricación utilizados han sido arranque de material, fresadora en mayor medida y torno en menor. Como método de soldadura, se ha elegido soldadura TIG.

This project consists of the team work carried out by a set of interdisciplinary students in the University of Michigan, as well as a critical analysis of the used techniques. The objective of the STB is to build a steel bridge, for the international competition “Steel Bridge Team”. Said bridge must have some preestablished dimensions and basic structural characteristics. The main areas to study are the design and fabrication of the bridge, leaving aside the construction process, which has more of a competitive sport like character. For the design a light and simple bridge was chosen, without an overtruss, to later simplify its construction. On the other hand, on fabrication, everything has been built on steel, and the main fabrication process used have been machining, mainly on mill, but also on lathe. For welding, the TIG welding method was chosen. In the design phase a light bridge with few pieces and without over truss was chosen to simplify its construction. On the other hand, in the manufacture, everything was built in steel, and the main manufacturing processes used consisted of material reduction, with the use of the lathe and the mill. TIG Welding was chosen as welding method due to its good mechanical properties and esthetic finish.