indeterminate analysis and design problems for the AM

[ketanco]

for the structural AM portion

Can someone answer

1) if there are any indeterminate analysis

2) Also I can not find any beam or slab or footing design problem anywhere, which is listed in the topics for the AM portion. can someone guide me to somewhere which may have those type of questions? not PM but the AM type

 

[K19]

1. No indeterminate analysis in the AM portion. You should know how to draw/interpret moment & shear diagrams though, determine moments of inertia for cross sections, and be familiar with the equations for calculating M, V, and deflection for various determinate beam configurations - see Ch 44 "Strength of Materials" & Appendix 44 of the CERM (12th Ed. - chapter # might have changed in the new CERM).

2. It's highly unlikely that they'll ask you to do and beam/slab/footing "design" problem in the AM, anything they do ask would be more along the lines of basic terminology, design principles, etc. For these syllabus topics I only read/highlighted the first few headings of the respective CERM chapters (omitting the heavier material), which was more than sufficient for what I encountered on test day.

As probably said here 100x over (I know b/c I asked!), the NCEES practice problems are the most representative of the type/difficulty you're likely to encounter on test day.

 

[ketanco]

thanks a lot , i understand about the determinate and indeterminate portion now...

i only asked about the design because they specifically write it in the ncees exam specifications for str am. they are listing beams, slabs footings under member design

they also wrote dead loads live loads construction loads, what do they mean exactly, i mean i know what they are of course and i have seen the questions from ncees you mentioned, but still not clear... what kind of questions may come from dead loads, live loads and construction loads?

again, all these questions are for structural AM only

 

[K19]

i only asked about the design because they specifically write it in the ncees exam specifications for str am. they are listing beams, slabs footings under member design

they also wrote dead loads live loads construction loads, what do they mean exactly, i mean i know what they are of course and i have seen the questions from ncees you mentioned, but still not clear... what kind of questions may come from dead loads, live loads and construction loads?

again, all these questions are for structural AM only

I had the same thought process as you on this, though having worked all the 2008 & 2011 practice problems (and taken/passed the exam), I can state that it's highly unlikely you'd be asked to "design" a slab or footing. It's just too involved, and the a.m. questions are more geared towards testing whether the non-structural engineer (which I am, and can only presume you are) has a grasp of structural fundamentals - determinate statics, materials, etc.

Regarding dead/live loads, a typical problem might give some structural configuration subjected to loads of both types, and you'd have to determine what loading (i.e. worst-case scenario / greatest combined loading) should be used as the basis for the design of a certain member. You might have to consider the self-weight of a member (and the distributed load associated with it), then superimpose the given live load at a worst-case location (e.g., center of a beam) to determine a maximum moment or deflection. There's definitely an ncees practice problem of this type, but beyond that I'm not sure what they might ask.