Do I need the latest ASD steel book for the PE test?

[NYEngineer06]

I have the 9th edition of AISC ASD design book (green cover). Do I need the 13th edition (black cover) for the October 2010 PE exam? Does the latest reference material make that much of a different on the test? I know NCEES can ask questions that deals with specific changes in standards, but do they actually do that on the real test? and how often does it happen? Want to know if anybody has experience with this issue.

 

[IL-SE]

I have the 9th edition of AISC ASD design book (green cover). Do I need the 13th edition (black cover) for the October 2010 PE exam? Does the latest reference material make that much of a different on the test? I know NCEES can ask questions that deals with specific changes in standards, but do they actually do that on the real test? and how often does it happen? Want to know if anybody has experience with this issue.

The 13th edition is actually a bit different from the 9th in that it is allowable strength design, not stress, so you'd have to convert everything back to strength to find the right multiple choice answer. Some things have changed slightly (flexure uses Z instead of S and the factor for columns is different). The overall concepts are similar, but the equations look different becuase of the strength vs stress (FyZ/omega<M instead of 0.66Fy<M/S). The 13th edition is probably worth updating to. It has a lot of great tables and is a good reference for practicing engineers.

 

[EnvEngineer]

If you are taking the construction exam I am not sure you need it at all, the look ups are pretty general and the older versions should be fine.

 

[NYEngineer06]

Alright, I think I need the 13th. Don't want to be stumped on the test over some new variable designation.