The Eiffel Tower, built in 1889, was a temporary structure. It was supposed to last only 20 years before being demolished. But Paris kept it, long, long past its design life. Why has it been so durable? Scientists are creating a detailed computer model of all of its components to try to answer that question:
They've already learned that the tower has shrunk five and a half inches due to settling.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jNYkE-s1Q0Uh9cDYKlYl106OE-nw?docId=CNG.7e25f7c5d89565fea10627f109f43804.311 via Popular Science | Photo by Flickr user Terrazzo used under Creative Commons license
But creating the model for the Eiffel Tower presented a technical challenge of a completely new kind.
One thing was that the realisation that its materials -- puddle iron (iron that is super-heated, beaten by hand and then folded over) and rivets -- perform quite differently from modern-day steel, concrete and bolts.
"We had to start from scratch," said Roussin.
Materials scientists carried out mechanical and chemical tests on samples of puddle iron to assess its resilience, and stress engineers revisited Eiffel's own drawings to calculate how the tower would perform under load from the natural elements.
Outwardly simple, the geometry of the tower itself posed some mighty number-crunching problems.
The programme had to take into account a range of weather conditions on a latticework of 18,000 metal pieces and the tower's additions, calculating the load vertically, horizontally and in 3D: in all, the model has an astonishing million variables.
They've already learned that the tower has shrunk five and a half inches due to settling.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jNYkE-s1Q0Uh9cDYKlYl106OE-nw?docId=CNG.7e25f7c5d89565fea10627f109f43804.311 via Popular Science | Photo by Flickr user Terrazzo used under Creative Commons license
Comments (7)
http://www.demecanica.com/Textos/EIFFEL.pdf
The old engineers couldn't make these ulta-fine calculations so they OVERBUILT with plenty of safety margins.
That's why old stuff lasts while today's stuff falls apart.
Opera (and SeaMonkey!)
First: I am skeptical about the methodology. I'm not sure this "study" would hold up to proper scientific scrutiny.
Second: The consensus in geek circles is that IE is pretty much the worst browser to choose from. In that respect it is no surprise that IE scores badly. (Yes, I am assuming the average IQ in "geek circles" is above average.)
PS: The results might be skewed because a lot of senior citizens (or others) are probably using IE because they don't have enough experience with computers or matters related to IT or just don't care. That does not mean they are more stupid.
apparently the study is bogus.
I regularly use two. Sometimes it depends on the site I'm visiting.