Trebuchet Research Papers

Engineering

The engineering of the trebuchet is very interesting and fairly complicated in the process of how it works. The parts of a trebuchet include a counterweight, throwing arm, sling, projectiles, the base and sides. A trebuchet functions by mechanical advantage, energy is consumed from a falling counterweight to throw the item being launched. Trebuchets are based on the principle of stored potential energy being transformed into kinetic energy. The energy is converted from the counterweight to the payload. Engineers have a big part in the technology and development of the trebuchet.

The counterweight is what really makes the whole thing work. To be able to get the most powerful and fastest launch you have to have a counterweight that weighs more than the item you are launching. The counterweight will fall at a faster rate so the projectile will get whipped around faster thus throwing the

These first trebuchets built in China were very difficult to operate and used a lot of human power, they were called traction trebuchet. The Chinese would need over 250 soldiers to be able to produce enough energy to pull the rope. There was engineers that sat at the front and loaded the throwing arm. They were able to put more power into the weapon, the trebuchet by adding different weight as the soldiers would release the rope. It was able to throw big rocks around 100 meters, however it was not consistent or accurate. Later they added a counterweight and this was a big advancement in the technology. It is much easier to pull back a huge rope to work the machine. Then they had more room to make the sling longer so the object being launched could go farther. The sling makes the weapon even more accurate and precise. The hinged counterweight took over the fixed counterweight. One of the last improvements was called the propped counterweight it gave an angle with the weight and the