DIDACTIC GAMES IN ENGINEERING TEACHING- CASE: SPAGHETTI BRIDGES DESIGN AND BUILDING CONTEST

Abstract. This work presents some observations about the use of didactic games involving practical activities of design and building of structures, complementing subjects of Structural Analysis and Solid Mechanics broached in regular classes. The practical activity proposed to the undergraduate students of several engineering and architecture courses is a load test of truss bridge models made of rods of spaghetti and several types of adhesives (adhesive resin, adhesive compound, liquid and melted glues). The models must span an opening of 1 m, support a concentrated load in the center of the span and have weight bellow 750 g. The building of the models should be preceded of a design optimization including variations of general shape (arc, bean, etc.), truss shape (number and length of truss members), transversal sections and building considerations. An estimate of final weight of the model and collapse load in the design stage is required. Two contests happen in two consecutive semesters, and some considerations about the results obtained are presented