artistg90 wrote:I failed PDD back in May and am getting back on the horse to finish my last test. Previously I studied Ballast 4.0/5.0, and Jennys/Caroline notes. When I took the test I noticed there were a lot of structural questions I did not feel I was prepared for. Do you guys have any recommendations for a good book or study material to review for structures? Thanks for the help!!
I have taken this exam 3 times already and failed all 3, last one through me for a loop, but i digress,
IMHO, the structures of 50 is way more relaxed than 40, if you have a good overall concept of the following you do well:
-beam action
-section modulus
- shearing / moment
- basic moment and shear diagrams for diff beam connections
ex. cantilever, fixed, pinned, roller
-modulus of E
- diff between stress & strain
- basic wind force
-drift & issues and cause's
- basic seismic design
-causes, how it relates to diff materials, how to minimize impact
- building periods
- you may get one easy question on slenderness ratio so understand it but i wouldn't spend any longer than a few minutes on it, seriously doubt if you get more than 2
- understand typical structural systems and their spans, ex.. conc. systems, waffle slab, one way, two way, rigid frames, steel eccentric , concentric, moment resisting
-load paths,
- diff wood sizes and members as far as lumber, boards, timber, lvl's, glulams, osb vs plywood etc
- understand what reinforcing bar
- knw your basic truss, howe, fink, scissor
- retaining walls
-soils and soil pressures
- basic understanding of connections for conc, steel, wood,
I wouldn't waste my time with anything else