Re: What type of materials used in the construction of Ferris Wheel?

Nana:

I'm a little unclear about your question, but I'll assume that you are 
designing a ferris wheel and are wondering what materials you should use.

As in all design problems, there really is no 'right' or 'wrong' answer.
The materials used will depend on many design parameters.  Assuming you
are using beam analysis to design your ferris wheel, you probably need
to decide on the beam cross section, beam material, and the layout of the
beams within the wheel itself.   All of these parameters will affect the
maximum stresses and strains that you will see within each beam.  You need
to design the structure so that your stresses and strains are within 
allowable limits.  For stresses, these limits are usually defined in terms
of the material's proportional limit (i.e. the PL divided by a safety
factor). Limits on strain are usually imposed as an overall global maximum
deformation criterion, such as any point on the ferris wheel may not deform
by more than half an inch.

In selecting your material, you probably want to consider availability, 
cost/strength ratios, material stiffness, and the like.  Steel or Aluminum
would be good starting points, as they are strong and relatively cheap
(compared to, say, copper)

In short, there really is no definitive answer to this question, but rather
you need to look at your needs and choose a material with properties that
best suits them.

-m

Michael Pantiuk       mpanti1@umbc.edu