Lego famous skyscrapers3/17/2024 ![]() ![]() They’re also adept at resisting shear (sliding) forces the stud-and-tube design locks the pieces in place to keep them from sliding side to side. That strength, in theory, could support about 375,000 other bricks, or a tower just over two miles high. The brick held up a staggering 950 pounds of force before failing. ![]() In 2012, researchers at England’s The Open University tested the strength of a 2x2-stud Lego brick using a hydraulic press. Lego blocks can withstand impressive compression (compacting) forces. These loads can include the weight of the building’s materials, rooftop snow accumulation, gale-force winds, or the sudden shudder of an earthquake.īBC presenter James May’s Lego home featured 3.5 million bricks. These forces-compression, shearing, and tension-are caused by different loads to which a structure is subjected. Now, to look at Lego bricks as a building material, picture a Lego skyscraper and measure the brick’s strength against the forces that architects and engineers design buildings, bridges, and other structures to withstand. The friction between the top stud of one brick and the interior tubes of the brick atop it hold the pieces together, but not so much that they’re impossible to pull apart. ![]() The ABS is semi-pliable, allowing bricks to fit together using a friction-dependent connection called a snap fit. This precision makes them a reliable and efficient construction material. “Lego bricks are very precisely made,” says Barnaby Gunning, the London-based architect who designed May’s house. Lego bricks are made out of a hard plastic called acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) with a manufacturing tolerance of roughly 0.01mm. ![]()
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