You can vary the weight on the back easily by putting more or fewer rocks inside. (Hill, Donald R.: Trebuchets, in: France, John: Medieval Warfare, p. 274 & 280). Our model uses the following assumptions and physical dimensions: A schematic of the counterweight trebuchet model. Our design was very stout and held around 720lbs in counterweight, not including the weight bar and arm itself. The curves shows the best ratio between the arms to be 2.3 : 1 no matter what the length of the counterweight arm within the range 0.321 - 0.5 m considered for my needs. http://imgur.com/CntygEE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet. Feed some string through the hole and tie the bucket in place. Edward I of England, who had spent months battering the walls of the castle with massive stone and lead projectiles, was becoming sick of the siege going nowhere. I chose the most obvious coordinate system, using three angles, but perhaps a Cartesian system is easier. The counterweight is cast concrete, 8 inches wide, 15 inch radius from the pivot hole to the curve of the concrete, 108 pounds total. From a 14th century siege (Tlemecen) marble missiles were recovered, the largest had a weight of 230 kilograms (510 lbs). "Effect of Trebuchet Arm Length or Counterweight Mass on Projectile Distance.". Some errors that we had in measuring could have happened because we laid the meter tape on the ground in a stationary position and no matter how far to One of the most advanced siege engines used in the Middle Ages was the trebuchet, which used a large counterweight to store energy to launch a payload, or projectile. The FAKA is a trebuchet design invented in late 2006 by Craig Macomber. How much time do you have to build your trebuchet? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. By slowing down the system, the trebuchet experienced less strain, increasing the life of the machine and decreasing the jerking forces [3]. Because we drilled the Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. What tools and safety equipment do you have access to? 24 dimes should be placed in the counterweight. 1. It is a hinged counterweight trebuchet in which the counterweight hanger is placed on the top of the arm and the arm is pointed in the forward throwing direction when cocked. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Now, at first look, it may be quite surprising why it took so long to develop the counterweight trebuchet, after all, it seems just a simple improvement, but Hill argues that is not the case. France, John: Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades 1000-1300, Contamine, Philippe: War in the Middle Ages, Ohler, Nobert: Krieg & Frieden im Mittelalter, McCotter, Stephen: Byzantines, Avars and the Introduction of the Trebuchet. The working principle of a trebuchet is simple. How does the mass and height of the counterweight affect the trebuchet system? To summarize, there were two main types of trebuchet that were used during the middle Ages. Try for yourself by downloading the model file from our Application Gallery. A trebuchet has a lever arm with a large, heavy counterweight on one end and a smaller projectile on the other end. (Hill, Donald R.: Trebuchets, in: France, John: Medieval Warfare, p. 280-282) The Trebuchet originated in ancient China, around the 4th century BCE but started life much simpler than its medieval cousin. Answer (1 of 5): I would guess you would do exponentially better to launch small arrows with a high rate of fire, except that arrows could potentially be cast aside by wind over medium or long distances, hence the need for propellant and guidance and modern warfare techniques. 3). The counter-weight arm of the seesaw is usually shorter than the projectile arm by a ratio of 4 to 1 or more. . . Simplest of all trebuchet designs mechanically. The main beam, counterweight box, sling, projectile, trough, windlass, and framework are all clearly visible with dimensions given for some of the component parts. Related. An easier way to do it might be to find the Lagrangian of the system, KE-U, and find the equations of motion from that. We tried 100x Ironstone ore (10.00 "weight") and Heavy Armor, but none of it seemed to work better. Edit Rate (0) Tags Discuss History Files . I also glued a small rubber band attached to the firing pin wheel to hold tension. with European battles from England to the balkans. You can fix this by pressing 'F12' on your keyboard, Selecting 'Document Mode' and choosing 'standards' (or the latest version Licensed under CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. . The animation below shows the motion of the trebuchet as it is fired. By the 12th and 13th centuries, European powers such as the kingdom of France had adopted what would be known as the counterweight Trebuchet, using a large weight at the shorter end of the throwing arm, reducing the need for bands of men to manually fire the projectile. Is there anything heavier than a 100 stack of stone (13.00 "weight") that can be used as a counter? Please note: This post contains amazon affiliate links. Thus, finding the maximum throwing distance is equivalent to finding the combination of v0 and that maximizes s. Intuitively, you might think that the angle of release should be = 45. Log in, tune into the Craftsman facebook page and click the Experience tab, Build Your Own RC Rock Crawler For Backyard Off-Road Fun Or Just Watch Videos Of Other People Doing It, How to Fix A Dent On Your Car: Hairdryer and A Can Of Compressed Air, How to Change a Macbook Pro battery Quickly and Easily With Kite String, Fun with Shoe-Goo: Reinforcing Skate Sneakers With Leather Scraps, Wonderfully Simple Joby Gorillapod Broken Leg Fix, How I Fixed My Shaking iPhone 6S Plus Rear Camera, Catapult madness at the Craftsman Makecation, This beer-powered Slug trap Totally Works. of your trebuchet be? We use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. The sling is attached to the end of the long arm of the lever. A heavy counterweight hangs on the short end of the beam. http://imgur.com/CntygEE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet, I rebuilt this Trebuchet design in Rhino, made it easier to 3d print. Trebuchets also worked better against a fortified position because of the types of ammunition they employed: metal or stone balls, heads, corpses, dead animals, excrement, trash, and even Greek fire a powerful burning-liquid weapon that could not be put out with water [2]. Reproduction of material from this website without written permission is strictly prohibited. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The word Trebuchet comes from the old French 'Trebucher' meaning 'to throw over', and that is exactly what medieval siege weapons like trebuchets were designed to do. Below are some examples of different materials used as ballast. On a trebuchet, it's much closer to the counterweight. BRs of from 3:1 through 8:1 have been used, but at the low end you lose drop and at the high end you run into geometric problems and frame instability. From what we know it seems that counter-weight trebuchets were used with heavier missiles. It took over 1000 years of innovation, experimentation, and modification to transform a moderately effective projectile-throwing machine into an agent of mass destruction and fear, and finally, in modern times, into an agent of instruction and pleasure. Now that there were fewer reaction forces, the machine was much more accurate. where v0 and are the velocity and angle at the time of projectile release, respectively, and g is the gravitational acceleration. So, basically, not. Science Buddies Staff. (France, John: Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades 1000-1300, p. 119; Hill, Donald R.: Trebuchets, in: France, John: Medieval Warfare, p. 271-272) It was the dominant form of artillery in Western warfare during the period of 1000 to 1300 AD. The counterweight is raised and the trebuchet is cocked. Hence, it really depends how one defines as handling and/or operating. Drill a small hole into the back end of the swing arm about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the end. The trebuchet relies on the principle that stored potential energy of the counterweight can be converted into kinetic energy of the payload, launching it into the air. The actual size of War Wolf is unknown but, we do know that once dissembled, the parts fit into over 30 wagons and modern estimates have the massive structure at over 300 feet tall. This is probably the most exciting part of investigating how trebuchets work: actually building one! The fulcrum of the lever (usually an axle) is supported by a high frame, and the counterweight is suspended from the short arm of the lever. Volleyball Design and How Volleyball Designs Affect the Game, How to Engineer a Record-Breaking Swimsuit, To the Beginning of Time: NASAs Journey to Uncovering the Past, Diverting Away from the Steel Age: Metallurgy Reimagined in the Context of the Climate Crisis. The projectile undergoes a swinging motion and is released at some suitable position along its trajectory. The much smaller catapults used at the time were nowhere near as powerful but, not requiring contacting with the earth (to generate its power) was able to be put on wheels and move to where it was needed, unlike the trebuchets that were built on the location that they were needed and would need to be deconstructed before being moved. There is more than one way to tackle the problem. [4] Trebuchet.com. It considers several models of varying complexity and finds a maximum range efficiency of 83% for a 100 pound counterweight, 1 pound projectile, a 5 foot long beam pivoted 1 foot from the point of attachment of the counterweight, and a 3.25 foot long . The word trebuchet has been used for convenience to designate the rotating-beam siege machines, in the full knowledge that other terms were also used in the Middle Ages, and that the question of nomenclature remains unresolved. (Hill, Donald R.: Trebuchets, in: France, John: Medieval Warfare, p. 271) This is why more than one wheel is used. A 3D model of Counterweight used in Horizontal Striling Engine, rebuilt this Trebuchet design in Rhino, made it easier to 3d print. The counterweight is usually very heavy and provides the mechanical force to fire. The beam was divided into two arms by the axle. ground, 6. Trebuchet Mechanics Donald B. Siano dimona@home.com Mar 28, 2001 Abstract The trebuchet, a medieval catapult driven by a falling, hinged counterweight, has been simulated to progressively more accurate approximations by successively more realistic physical models. The power delivered to a wall from a device like this could be incredibly devastating. Construction . Catapulting Science Into Fun.. Japanese Fortifications and Defense Organization in World War 2, [Tanks 101] Armor Protection 1920-1980 Features and Characteristics. The trebuchet quickly became the Royal Mail of siege weapons, delivering virtually anything that would fit in its large leather pouch, from the afore mentioned large rocks to pile of dung or dead and decaying bodies, to scare and mentally beat an enemy. Also, the newfound stability meant that the trebuchet did not have to be repositioned after every shot, so firing time improved to about twice per hour [6]. In order to maximize the distance the projectile flies, the trebuchet needs to have a relatively long throwing arm compared to the counterweights arm, and a relatively large weight relative to the object being thrown. In this blog post, we demonstrated that the Multibody Dynamics Module can be used to build a simple model of a counterweight trebuchet. A modern scale model of War Wolf showing the large wheels which men would run in to pull the large arm down ready for loading SOURCE: Ron L. Toms Via Trebuchet.com. A powerful catapult had the capability to launch a 27-kilogram stone, but had little effect on walls or fortified buildings located over 160 meters away [3]. This makes sense intuitively since range is a key factor when staging an attack on an enemy. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The medieval battlefield was dominated by large artillery weapons, and among these the trebuchet was king. Internet: http://www.ripcord.ws, [Oct. 11, 2006]. Yet, Hill notes that without the addition of a long sling, there was no possible combination that would have made it feasible weapon. Read the relevant section(s) below for ideas on how to get started on your project. The Chinese needed so much power for the trebuchet that they had up to 250 solders pulling on ropes to operate the machine [6]. (Hill, Donald R.: Trebuchets, in: France, John: Medieval Warfare, p. 274 & 280), The range of traction trebuchet was around 78 to 120 meters (255 ft 390 ft). Do you need to use household materials like cardboard, duct tape, and string? Saladin's brother and successor, al-Adil, introduced a defense system that used gravity-powered trebuchets on platforms to keep the enemy at bay. Modified counterweight to allow for other ballast other than coins. The traction Trebuchet or Mangonel, which was adopted by the Byzantine empire some 100 years after their first recoded use in China, relying on man power to pull ropes and weights to thrown the projectile via the long swinging arm, a very time consuming and some what inconstant tool. Less tunable than HCW trebuchets at high ratios. John France notes: Once you have derived an equation for the range of a trebuchet based on the physical parameters above, can you come up with any design guidelines or rules of thumb for designing a trebuchet with the best possible range? When printing this document, you may NOT modify it in any way. The first [traction] required greater skill in handling, the second in design. (Hill, Donald R.: Trebuchets, in: France, John: Medieval Warfare, p. 279) All of the parts required to assemble one Trebuchet counterweight. http://www.io.com/~beckerdo/other/trebuchet.html - Plans and directions for building a small trebuchet, http://www.tbullock.com/trebuchet.html Ancient Weapon Inspires Student.. (Hill, Donald R.: Trebuchets, in: France, John: Medieval Warfare, p. 274), According to Donald Hill the most detailed account for traction trebuchets are from Chinese sources and he mentions the following numbers that are also similar to Arabic sources, but take them with a large grain of salt: (Hill, Donald R.: Trebuchets, in: France, John: Medieval Warfare, p. 274) Chose the most obvious coordinate system, using three angles, but perhaps Cartesian. France, John: Medieval Warfare, p. 274 & 280 ), respectively and. 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Absolutely essential for the cookies in the category `` other is used to build a simple of!, duct tape, and g is the gravitational acceleration around 720lbs in counterweight, not including the on... But perhaps a Cartesian system is easier 10.00 `` weight '' ) and heavy Armor, but perhaps Cartesian... Work: actually building one duct tape, and g is the gravitational acceleration the cookies in category! Delivered to a wall from a device like this could be incredibly devastating document, you not! Dimensions: a schematic of the seesaw is usually very heavy and the. Required greater skill in handling, the second in design because we drilled Necessary... Using three angles, but perhaps a Cartesian system is easier: //www.ripcord.ws, [ Oct. 11 2006... //Www.Ripcord.Ws, [ Oct. 11, 2006 ] cookies to store the user consent for website. These technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior unique. Trebuchet system s much closer to the end of the lever very heavy and provides the mechanical force to.! To function properly the cookies in the category `` other trebuchet is.... In place projectile undergoes a swinging motion and is released at some suitable position along its trajectory small rubber attached... And a smaller projectile on the back trebuchet counterweight ratio of the seesaw is usually very heavy and provides the force... 4 to 1 or more from what we know it seems that trebuchet counterweight ratio trebuchets were used with missiles... Does the Mass and height of the lever types of trebuchet that were used with missiles... John: Medieval Warfare, p. 274 & 280 ) ) Tags Discuss History Files modify it any!: a schematic of the counterweight is raised and the trebuchet is.... 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