Longitudinal shear strength is required to ensure that two components of a beam act compositely in bending. Without the required strength at the interface, each component will be able to move relative to the other and when loaded in bending the two components will each carry some of the bending moment separately, with a much lower overall bending resistance.
This cheat sheet summarises the Eurocode + UK National Annex partial factors and combinations.
Factors for wind and thermal loading make use of the reduced factor assuming that the characteristic load has been calculated using an appropriate return period.
When carrying out the structural analysis in the exam, the combinations can be simplified by stating that you are ignoring loads that do not have a significant effect (often wind).
Thermal ranges used to be given in the exam but have not been stated in the question since the format of the exam paper changed in 2004.
Nevertheless, they could be important to your design for a number of reasons including:
Part 2b (drawings) requires you to produce drawings of your chosen solution for part 1. The drawings should be drawn to scale. It is recommended to do this part after the calculations (2a), so that you can add member sizes onto the drawings.
This cheat sheet is a template with a suggested layout for the drawings including key information to be included on each view, and some typical notes.
In the exam you will be provided with A3 paper for the drawings.
Part 1b of the exam requires you to write a formal letter to the client explaining the impact of a design change.
The examiners make it clear in their reports that they are looking for you to identify any issues with the design and construction and propose solutions to the problem, not a letter saying that it can't be done or explaining that it will cost more and there will be programme implications. If the change makes your design non-viable then explain why and propose an alternative.
Below is a checklist you can use for part 1A.
The ground properties given in the exam tend to be stated in terms of SPT 'N'.
SPT stands for Standard Penetration Test, a simple and widely used method of ground investigation. The test is carried out by sinking a sampler inside a borehole and striking it repeatedly with a "hammer" of known weight dropped a known height. The number of blows required to progress the sampler 300mm through the strata is known as the SPT 'N' value and can be correlated with ground properties.
This cheat sheet contains a method for calculating an undrained bearing capacity in accordance with BS8004, which is non-contradictory complimentary information to BS EN 1997.
The method is similar to the one set out in Annex D of BS EN 1997-1, but includes some additional factors to account for depth, ground inclination and rigidity of the base.
This cheat sheet contains a method for calculating a drained bearing capacity in accordance with BS8004, which is non-contradictory complimentary information to BS EN 1997.
The method is similar to the one set out in Annex D of BS EN 1997-1, but includes some additional factors to account for depth, ground inclination and rigidity of the base.
This cheat sheet has a method for calculating the maximum axial force on a pile group due to an applied bending moment.