Why Make A Concrete Canoe Science Project?

The Concrete Canoe Competition is an annual competition held by the American Society of Civil Engineers to challenge college students to build a concrete canoe. The competition aims to teach students about design through the construction of a concrete canoe, encouraging them to develop creative and innovative ideas to produce the most efficient design. The competition requires teams to design, build, and race a canoe made from concrete, as well as compete in other events.

The main focus of the competition is to make the concrete canoe float, which is achieved by combining lighter materials with concrete. Materials scientist Joseph-Louis Lambot built a concrete dinghy featured in the 1855 Worlds Fair. To conserve steel during World War II, the U.S. made 24 concrete ships. Today, college students are challenged to construct a canoe out of reinforced concrete that not only floats but can also hold four people.

The competition also provides students with hands-on experience, ranging from brainstorming new materials to pouring the canoe mixture into a mold. The real trick in designing a concrete canoe is to make it the right shape, as even concrete can float.

In conclusion, the Concrete Canoe Competition is a unique opportunity for civil engineering students to gain hands-on practical experience and leadership. By combining lighter materials with concrete, students can create a canoe that not only floats but can also hold four people.

What is the purpose of floating concrete?

A concrete float is a tool used to finish a concrete surface by making it smooth. A float is used after the surface has been made level using a screed. In addition to removing surface imperfections, floating will compact the concrete as preparation for further steps.

A float can be a small hand tool, a larger bull float with a long handle, or a power trowel (also called a power float) with an engine. Concrete floats are generally made of magnesium, aluminum, or wood.

Why are canoes designed the way they are?

The canoe’s width and cross-sectional shape determine stability. A wider canoe has more initial stability. Narrow canoes are generally faster and more efficient in the water.

Depth is the distance measured from the bottom of the hull to the top of the gunwales. Greater depth allows for increased carrying capacity and protects against swamping, making the canoe more seaworthy. Deeper canoes have more freeboard, but they are harder to handle in windy conditions.

Measured by how much weight a canoe is able to displace while maintaining at least six inches of freeboard. Making the canoe longer or deeper extends carrying capacity; the canoe’s width is generally not increased since it results in drag.

What are canoes made for?

Canoes are now widely used for competition — indeed, canoeing has been part of the Olympics since 1936— and pleasure, such as racing, whitewater, touring and camping, freestyle and general recreation.

The intended use of the canoe dictates its hull shape, length, and construction material. Although canoes were historically dugouts or made of bark on a wood frame, construction materials later evolved to canvas on a wood frame, then to aluminum. Most modern canoes are made of molded plastic or composites such as fiberglass, or those incorporating kevlar or graphite.

The word canoe came into English from the Spanish/Portuguese word canoa, which in turn was adopted from the Arawakan languages of the Caribbean for a dugout canoe, kanawa.

Many peoples have made dugout canoes throughout history, carving them out of a single piece of wood: either a whole trunk or a slab of trunk from particularly large trees. Dugout canoes go back to ancient times. The Dufuna canoe, discovered in Nigeria, dates back to 8500-8000 BC. The Pesse canoe, discovered in the Netherlands, dates back to 8200-7600 BC. Excavations in Denmark reveal the use of dugouts and paddles during the Ertebølle period, (c. 5300– c. 3950 BC).

Why were canoes made?

Canoes were developed in cultures all over the world, including some designed for use with sails or outriggers. Until the mid-19th century, the canoe was an important means of transport for exploration and trade, and in some places is still used as such, sometimes with the addition of an outboard motor.

Where the canoe played a key role in history, such as the Northern United States, Canada, and New Zealand, it remains an important theme in popular culture. For instance, the birch bark canoe of the largely birch-based culture of the First Nations of Quebec, Canada, and North America provided these hunting peoples with the mobility essential to this way of life.

Canoes are now widely used for competition — indeed, canoeing has been part of the Olympics since 1936— and pleasure, such as racing, whitewater, touring and camping, freestyle and general recreation.

What material is best to build a canoe?

Primarily, Carbon is used to build the lightest possible weight canoes. Carbon’s rigid hulls are also the most efficient of all materials as the materials passes through the water with the least amount of resistance.

COMPOSITE CANOES. “Composite” isageneric manufacturing termmeaning “not plastic.” Composite canoes can be Fiberglass, Kevlar, Carbon Fiber or a combination of any or all of these materials. Let’s discuss the different materials & manufacturing processes briefly.

FIBERGLASS CANOES– LOW TO MODERATE COST & MODERATE CARE. Fiberglass is themost common materialused in canoe manufacturing. Canoe quality can vary widely from cheapest to medium to excellent, as3- basic quality&price point levelsexist:

Cheap fiberglass canoes are made by sprayingsmall pieces of fiberglasscalled‘chopped fiber’mixed with cheappolyester resininto a gel-coated mold. Chop fiber provides little structural integrity, thus canoe hulls tend toflop up & downas you paddle. The canoe industry refers this movement as‘oil-canning’and its repeated action quickly destroys the hull. To minimize oil-canning some manufacturers use lots of resin to bulk up and stiffen the hull, which adds significant weight.

What is the science behind canoes?

Paddling a canoe can be thought of as moving a hole through the water. This hole is created as a result of water displaced by the hull. The total weight of the paddler(s), plus the weight of the canoe and gear, equals the weight of the water displaced by a loaded hull – this is Archimedes Principle (“Eureka!”).

What keeps a canoe afloat?

Polyethylene, Royalex, and other thermoplastic canoes float because they have a foam layer to help maintain a semblance of rigidity – to minimize oil canning. In contrast, aluminum and composite canoes need additional flotation. Large chunks of foam are installed in the ends of most aluminum canoes.

Composite canoes don’t require that much flotation since they’re lighter. Foam cores and ribs also contribute to buoyancy, but don’t add enough. The earliest Bells had chunks of black Ethafoam glued into the ends, a functional, though inelegant solution. Later Bell developed its signature curved air tanks. Those tanks appeared the ideal functional and aesthetic solution. However, the design’s weakness took years to manifest itself. Each tank required a rubber plug to accommodate fluctuations in air pressure resulting from temperature or elevation changes. Old Bells brought in for repairs frequently lacked plugs, the buoyancy of the air chambers eliminated by the plug’s absence.

Northstar arrived at our current flotation after research and development. We designed our end tanks to reduce weight, maximize space for paddlers and gear, and safely float a capsized canoe. First, we create a dam using aramid and foam. Then we fill the area behind the dam with a two part, marine grade pour foam. The foam fills all voids, so we don’t need to seal the top of the dam. Our end tanks create plenty of buoyancy for inland, flat water paddling.

Can you make a concrete canoe?

You may need to experiment a bit to formulate a concrete mix both light enough to float and strong enough to support a crew and survive collisions. Omit stones and gravel in favor of lightweight aggregates; seasoned builders recommend hollow glass microspheres or fabricated shale. For admixes, consider superplasticizers, pozzolans, shrinkage agents, and latex for flexibility. Instead of rebar reinforcement, use carbon fiber or even fiberglass mesh. Enlist a few dozen friends armed with trowels, rolling pins, and sanders to place and finish the concrete.

The final step is presentation: What good is a fast, light boat if it looks homemade? A custom tile appliqué looks better than paint and provides an artistic touch.

After the concrete has cured properly and you’ve applied sealer, your concrete canoe will be ready to race at the national or international level. —Andrew Wormer.

How do concrete canoes work?

History. Since the 1970’s, The University of Maine has been building and racing concrete canoes. The basic idea was to start with some kind of reinforcement, mold it into the shape of a canoe, place concrete over it, let the concrete cure, remove the mold, and if we’re lucky, the result is a canoe that floats! In the beginning, the canoes weighed over 500 pounds and were raced at the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race in Bangor. In 1974, UMaine held the firstannual Whitewater Concrete Canoe Race. Eighteen schools participated, making the competition the third largest in the world!Over the past four decades the race has become a national event sponsored by ASCE and Master Builders. The canoes have become lighter and faster, and are raced on flat water. Nationally competitive canoes weigh in at less than 150 pounds. The competition involves men’s, women’s, and co-ed races (200 meter and 600 meter), a design paper, visual display, and an oral presentation.Each year, theUniversity of Maine team continues to improve its technology and applications to become more competitive on the national level.

Official ASCE Concrete Canoe Contest PageUniversity of Alabama at Huntsville US Concrete CanoePage.

What is a concrete canoe competition?

ASCE National Competition. The ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) National Concrete Canoe Competition (NCCC) provides students with a practical application of the engineering principles they learn in the classroom, along with important team and project management skills they will need in their careers.

A concrete canoe is a canoe made of concrete, typically created for an engineering competition.

In spirit, the event is similar to that of a cardboard boat race—make the seemingly unfloatable float. However, since concrete and other poured surfaces are an integral part of a civil engineer’s education, concrete canoes typically feature more development than cardboard boats.

Ignoring hydrodynamic effects, all ships or boats float because the weight of the water they displace is equal to the weight of the boat (Archimedes’ principle). However, many boats are made of materials that are denser than water, meaning that the boat will sink if filled with water.

What is the purpose of a dugout canoe?

Dugout canoes were made by Native Americans across North and South America for transportation and to hunt fish with a spear, bow and arrows, or with hooks made from antler or bones.

Why do concrete canoes float?

Can you float a canoe made out of concrete? You sure can! How heavy something is… is not the key to knowing whether or not it will float! What we really care about when we make something we want to float is how dense it is. An object is buoyant – which is another way to say it will float – if it is less dense that the fluid it is suspended in. Density is an average calculated from the total mass divided by the total volume. So the real trick in designing a concrete canoe is to make it the right shape! As long as it contains enough air that the density of the whole canoe is less than the density of water, it will float.

In class we didn’t make boats out of concrete, but we did make boats out of a material denser than water: aluminum. We folded sheets of aluminum foil into rectangular boats and then tested how much mass the boats would support. When we loaded enough mass onto the boats so that the boats were denser than water, they sank!

Remember: If you want to know if something will float, don’t ask how heavy it is, ask how dense (and ask what it is floating in!)