Making the Arch - Arch Project

We officially began making the arch using plasticine and into the design we discussed on the previous class. We had different coloured plasticine to make the arch look more presentable and to fit into our jungle themed arch. We first made the small bricks and the columns for the arch using the grey plasticine and this was a team work as we all needed to make sure that the sizes of all the bricks are the same, except the keystone one. Getting the right thickness was important in the making of the arch because we do not want it to be too thick that it will be heavy but we also don't want it to be too thin that it will not hold the weight that will be put on top of it. This was a struggle and we had to change our thickness of the brick a couple of times because it would not hold the weight of the phones when we were testing.

 

Originally, we were going to use satay sticks for the false work but we ended up making a sausage-like shaped using plasticine as the false work and then build and place the bricks around the false work to support it for a while. We did not had the idea of using a sausage-like shaped as the false work until we realised that the arch would not stay up by itself first.

After putting the false work and build the arch around it, the arch could then hold itself and was able to balance. This was such a relief for the group because we struggled a lot of trying to get the arch to stand  by itself. We then tried putting some weight on top of the arch to see if it could hold the compression of at least 2 phones -it did not work. After we tested it using 2 phones on top of the arch, we realised that it kept bending either left or right, therefore we added these reinforcements on the side and in front of the columns of the arch to support it more. After putting this and then putting the weights of the phone, it could hold the phone and therefore tested more using more phones and it could hold it.

We also decided to decorate the arch using green and yellow plasticine to match our jungle themed; therefore, we made vines and small flowers to make it look more aesthetically pleasing. 

After the arch was finally done, we then had to test it in front of the class. My group's arch could hold a lot of phones at the end, 9 phones, before it started to fall and bend. After we tested it and put the 9 phones on top of it, we realised that the arch had deformed and bent forwards. This is why we added more plasticine on top of the arch way to support it more because the reinforcements on the side and in front and back of the arch was not enough.

 

After this project, it really improved my communicating skills with my teammates and also built my building and making skills. I also helped give ideas to the group that could be useful in a way that could make the arch more stronger, stable, and able to withstand the compression from the phones. I also improved my understanding of construction in building and how reinforcements are important to make the construction stronger.