ME-7006 Non-Driven Set
ME-7007 Driven Set

● Study Methods for Determining Bridge Health
● Build Tied Arch Bridge with Either Set
● Build Cable-Stayed Bridge with ME-7007 Set
● Amplifier Gives NI Output Signal Enough Power to Run the Driver

These two structures sets have been specially designed to be used with National Instruments interfaces. The load cells have an RJ50 male connector to connect to the NI 9237 Analog Input Module. To make the bridge shake in the ME-7007 set, the output of the NI 9263 is amplified with the included Instrument Amplifier (PI-2212) to drive the Mechanical Wave Driver (SF-9324).
Cable-Stayed Bridge

ME-7006 NI Structures Set (not driven)The smaller set (ME-7006) has all the plastic I-beams, connectors, and four 5 N load cells, required to build and test the tied arch bridge shown on this page. The load cells act as sensitive accelerometers. When the bridge is struck with a hammer, the resulting vibrations can be recorded and analyzed in an FFT.

Tied Arch Bridge


ME-7007 NI Driven Structures Set
The larger set (ME-7007) has all the plastic I-beams and connectors required to build either the tied arch bridge or the cable-stayed bridge shown on this page. Ten 5 N load cells are provided to measure the accelerations at various points along the bridge and one 100 N load cell is attached to the driver to measure the driving force. In addition to striking the bridge with a hammer, the bridge oscillation is driven using the Mechanical Wave Driver at different frequencies to find the resonant frequencies of the bridge. The resulting vibrations can be recorded and analyzed in an FFT. Then a single I-beam is removed to weaken the bridge and the analysis is repeated to determine how the vibrations of the bridge at various points change.

 The Mechanical Driver, which is basically a speaker with a driving rod, is connected by a string to the load cell attached to the bridge roadbed.

 The NI 9263 outputs a sine wave which is amplified by the Instrument Amplifier (PI-2212) and fed into the Mechanical Wave Driver (SF-9324).

Order Information

NI Structures Set................................................ ME-7006

NI Driven Structures Set....................................ME-7007

Instrument Amplifier...........................................PI-2212

5 N Load Cell.......................................................PS-2201-NI

100 N Load Cell....................................................PS-2200-NI

Part	Description	ME-7007	ME-7006
ME-6993	Truss Set Members	8 sets	3 sets
ME-6994	Truss Set Screws (75/set)	14 sets	5 sets
ME-6987	Flat Structures Members	1 set	1 set
ME-7002	Connector Spares	3 sets	2 sets
ME-6997	Full Round Connector Set	2 sets	1 set
ME-6996	Cord Lock Spares	2 sets	1 set
ME-7590	Short Mass Hanger	6 ea.	4 ea.
ME-7589	Slotted Mass Set, 2 kg	4 ea.	2 ea.
ME-6988A	Force Platform Structure	4 sets	2 sets
PS-2201-NI	Load Cell, 5 N	10 ea.	4 ea.
PS-2200-NI	Load Cell, 100 N	1 ea.
PI-2212	Instrumentation Amplifier	1 ea.
SE-9750	4 mm Banana Plug Cords (5)	1 set
SF-9324	Mechanical Wave Driver	1 ea.
ME-6999A	Angle Connectors	2 sets