Bradley, William Edward, authorHeyliger, Paul Roy, 1958-, advisorCriswell, Marvin E., committee memberGlick, Scott A., committee member2007-01-032007-01-032011http://hdl.handle.net/10217/47305Treehouses have recently become a profitable public attraction in the United States. With this increase in popularity, it becomes important to standardize treehouse engineering practices as an important step towards regulation of these structures. This thesis outlines common practices among treehouse engineers and makes suggestions for calculation of the self-weight of a tree and stresses due to gravity and wind loads. In particular, this thesis uses a finite element model to analyze a foliage-free cottonwood tree with a rectangular treehouse under typical maximum wind loadings. Six scenarios are investigated, with a treehouse at different heights. Elastic analysis is used to determine the stresses due to wind near the base of the tree.born digitalmasters thesesengCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.areasilhouettestressstructuretreehousewindText