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UNIVERSITY OF VOCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Faculty of Industrial & Vocational Technology
Bachelor of Technology in Construction Technology and Resource
Management 2016 / 2017 (B2)
Year II– Semester I Examination - March 2018

Design of Structural Elements – CT30409

Time Duration: 3 hours

Instruction to Candidates:

• This paper contains four questions in three sections (Section A, B, C) on 6 pages

(including this page).
• Answer all the questions.
• Use separate answer booklets for each section.
• This examination accounts 60% of the total marks (100%). The marks assigned for each
question & section here of are indicated in square brackets.
• This is an open book examination.
• Clearly state assumptions made.
• All the examinations are conducted under the rules and regulations of the university.
• Additional material: None

Section A –Design of Concrete Structures

Question 1

Suppose that you are the Design Engineer for ‘XYZ Consultant (Pvt.) Ltd. A four-storied multi
functional building is to be designed in an optimum manner since the project runs with a limited
budget. The proposed structural grid arrangement is given in Figure Q1. The slab thickness is
fixed at 125mm and all the beams except the beam AB in figure Q1 are of 250mm x 300mm
whereas the beam AB is 250mm x 600mm in dimensions.

The architect insists on not having columns at D and F shown in Figure Q1. Hence beams CD and
EF are to be supported by the Beam AB itself. As per the functional requirements the floors are
supposed to withstand an imposed load of 2kN/m2 and the roof slab is to be designed against
1kN/m2.

Page 1 of 5
 3000

Figure Q1

(All the dimensions shown in Figure Q1 are in millimeters.)

I. When a reinforced concrete beam is designed, it has to be designed for both

‘Serviceability Limit State’ and ‘Ultimate Limit State’. Briefly explain those two
terminology and corresponding designs and checks to be conducted for each of those
limit states
[4 marks]
II. Design the beam AB in the steps below;
a. Calculate the uniformly distributed load for the beams: CD and EF.
[3 marks]
b. Draw the Shear Force Diagram and Bending Moment Diagram in the technique
that you can get the maximum accuracy, assuming the beam to be simply
supported.
[5 marks]
c. Design the beam AB for resisting against the applied Bending Moment.
[6 marks]
d. Draw a rough detail as per your design.
[3 marks]
e. Check the beam for shear and deflection
[4 marks]
III. Suggest a measure that you could use to optimize the beam in terms of cost. Justify your
answer.
[5 marks]

Page 2 of 5
Section B- Design of Timber and Steel Structures

Question 2

Timber is a naturally growing, sustainable construction material which has low embodied
energy. However one cannot dictate the way for a tree to grow. In addition, there are various
kinds of defects possible in timber. Therefore, grading timber is an important aspect in using
timber as a structural material.

i) Briefly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using timber as a structural

material. [2 marks]
ii) What is meant by Sapwood and Heartwood? Which one of these is more useful for
timber design? State your reasons. [4 marks]
iii) Check whether a D40 timber section 50 mm× 150 mm could be safely used as the top
chord of the truss if it is subject to axial load of 20 kN in compression and bending
moment of 0.75 kN/m under long term, service class 3 conditions. The effective
length of the top chord for the buckling in the lane of the truss could be assumed as
1500 mm while effective length for buckling out of the plane is 500 mm. The Euler
buckling stress has found to be 60 N/mm2. [8 marks]

iv) Determine the maximum tensile force of the bottom chord of a roof of C40 timber
can carry if the capacity of the bolted connection under long term, service class 3
conditions is not exceeded. It is assumed that the bolted connection is made in
timber under service class 3 conditions as well. The web member is 44 mm thick and
is inclined to the bottom chord by 45 degrees. The bottom chord consists of 44 mm
thick, twin members. The bolted connection consists of a single bolt of 20 mm
diameter and of grade 4.6. [6 marks]

Figure Q2a
v) State the reasons for timber seasoning and write down four methods of timber
seasoning? [4 marks]

vi) Determine the dimensions of the timber splice plate for the nail arrangement shown
in Figure Q2b. (Four nails each of 3.35 diameter nails 65 mm long in single shear, C40
timber) [4 marks]

Figure Q2b

Page 3 of 5
Question 3

Most construction projects require the use of hundreds of different materials. These range from
concrete of all different specifications, structural steel of different specifications, clay, mortar,
ceramics, wood, etc. Most commercial and industrial structures are primarily constructed using
either structural steel or reinforced concrete.

i) A cantilever roof is made of a truss and purlin beams connected to main columns of a
multistoried building. A typical truss is shown in elevation in Figure Q3. In the out of
the plane of truss the joint A is restrained in position but not in direction. The
factored load W from purlin reactions is 10 kN. The load from the top purlin adjacent
to the column can be ignored.

a) Analyze the forces in the truss members, and show the results in tabular form.
[6 marks]
b) Show that 100×100×4 SHS of S275 steel is suitable for the member A-B-C-D.
[7 marks]
c) Show that 50×50×5 SHS of S275 is suitable for the internal members. [7 marks]
(Assume 20 mm diameter joints for connection)
W D

C
W
2000 mm

W B

A E F

2000 mm 2000 mm 2000 mm

Figure Q3

ii) Write down and briefly explain three properties of steel that makes it suitable for
construction. [3 marks]
iii) List down two main disadvantages of steel to use as a structural material.
[2 marks]
iv) “Learning from the failures “can be identified as important aspect in any type of
structural design. Select one of the below mentioned famous structural failures and
write down short description about failure, its causes and rectifications. [7 marks]
a) World Trade Centre Twin Tower failure
b) Millennium bridge, London failure
c) Kemper Arena roof failure
Page 4 of 5
Section C – Design of Masonry Structures

Question 4

A masonry wall stiffened by the piers is shown in figure Q4a.

Figure Q4a

The following cement blocks (compressive strength of the brick is 17Mpa) with mortar
designation (ii) are used for this wall construction.

The eccentricity at top of the wall is 15mm. Effective height of the wall is 3m. Construction
control and manufacturing control of the structural units are normal. Determine the design
vertical load resistance using BS 5628-1-1992 (Use of masonry - Part 1: Structural use of
unreinforced masonry). [10 marks]

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