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Structural Practice Equations

PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:21 am
by danieb1
Anyone have any recommendations for where to access more (simple, of the type that might be on the test) structural practice equations. I've been referring to those from Ballast and Kaplan but I'd be interested in seeing more examples.

Re: Structural Practice Equations

PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:52 am
by thd7t
Go to NCARB and use the practice exam. Every equation used on the exam is supplied in its exact format.

Re: Structural Practice Equations

PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:13 pm
by Melon Panda
thd7t wrote:Go to NCARB and use the practice exam. Every equation used on the exam is supplied in its exact format.

Are you talking about the NCARB 5.0 Handbook sample items? I checked both PPD & PDD sections but they don’t have many struct equation type questions.

-MP

Re: Structural Practice Equations

PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:37 pm
by Coach
There's a separate formula section later in the handbook.

Re: Structural Practice Equations

PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:11 am
by vrcat25
As Coach and THD7T, either way...

1) In handbook strutures formulas are on pages 166-169

2) For the practice exam go to the tab that says "structural" -> pages 1-3. There's also 36 pages worth of tables and code related references that you will most likely not need for much if at all. Still know where to find them if a question arises and also get familiar with the "search" function. The last thing you want to do is sift thru 36 pages and waste precious time, since you have a little over 2 minutes per question.

MAKE SURE you familiarize yourself with these formulas before going into the test. The best way to do this is to get familiar with navigating thru the practice exam. You not knowing where the formulas are located is a good indication that you haven't done that yet.

Re: Structural Practice Equations

PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:25 am
by vrcat25
danieb1 wrote:Anyone have any recommendations for where to access more (simple, of the type that might be on the test) structural practice equations. I've been referring to those from Ballast and Kaplan but I'd be interested in seeing more examples.


there's a bunch of different resources, but it could be detrimental if you're spending too much time studying material that will never be on the test. Have you purchased the "Structural Systems" practice test manual? it's by Rima Taher and not Ballast...Also, have you studied the ARE 4.0 Ncarb practice tests? Besides those and what's in the handbook, which isn't much, I wouldn't focus too much time on structures questions. It's more important to know the concepts. We took 4 classes worth of structures in college, but I've yet to encounter them on the test. For 5.0, you're given the formulas you need, you just have to locate them quickly. All that being said, I've heard the Thaddeus seminars have more than enough quality practice test questions for structures.

Re: Structural Practice Equations

PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:16 pm
by Sarcasmo
I understand the worry about structural calcs -- however, as has been noted above, the formulas you need to understand and be able to implement are only those found in the 5.0 Handbook, as others have also noted. You also need to look at the division as it breaks down into sections that could conceivably have structural calcs in them -- so, mathematically, you'll probably have about 7 calcs total.

Re: Structural Practice Equations

PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:18 am
by danieb1
Thanks for talking me down. I've been absolutely a wreck over this exam. This will be my first try but reading other people's posts it seems to be all over the place. The handbook only gives a few equations, which I know will be available. I'm actually more worried about the beam diagrams, because you need to memorize the right steps and can't just necessarily plug in numbers.

I'll check out the NCARB 4.0 practice test and Structural Systems and skip over stuff like wind pressure calculations....

Re: Structural Practice Equations

PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 10:28 am
by Coach
danieb1 wrote:I'm actually more worried about the beam diagrams

If you don't have access to the steel manual the diagrams are readily available online.