Selected Problems from Civil Engineering Board Exam Problems (Philippines)

Structural Engineering and Construction

Situation 1 (01/16). For the beam and loading shown, determine the
reaction at support C. Flexural rigidity EI is constant throughout its
length.

Solution

Situation 1 (12/07). Design a spiral-reinforced circular column for

pure axial load only, with the following conditions:

service loads = 750 kN (dead), 1250 kN (live)

fc’ = 28 MPa

fy = 415 MPa (main rebars)

fyh = 345 MPa (spirals)

cc = 40 mm (clear cover)

Provide about 3% steel ratio for main rebars.

Use 32 mm for main rebars.

Use 10 mm for spirals.
Use NSCP 2010/2015.
(1) Rounded to the nearest 5 mm, what should be the size of the
column?
(a) 400 mm (c) 410 mm
(b) 405 mm (d) 415 mm
(2) How many 32-mm main rebars are required?
(a) 5 (c) 7
(b) 6 (d) 8
(3) Calculate the required spiral steel ratio, if a minimum amount
of spiral steel reinforcement is to be provided.
(a) 0.0189 (c) 0.0196
(b) 0.0193 (d) 0.0202

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 Selected Problems from Civil Engineering Board Exam Problems (Philippines)

(4) Rounded to the nearest 5 mm, what is the required pitch of

the spiral?
(a) 45 mm (c) 55 mm
(b) 50 mm (d) 60 mm
Solution.

 = 1.2
 + 1.6

= 1.2750 + 1.61250 = 2900 kN = 2900 × 10 N

 = 0.85  − !" # + $ !" %
For this problem, ! = 0.03 . Also for spirals,  = 0.75 and  = 0.85.

2900 × 10 = 0.750.850.8528 − 0.03 # + 4150.03 #%

* )
 = 128011.5828 mm) = +
4 ,-./01
+,-./01 = 403.7195 mm, say 405 mm

Situation 2 (11/24). Four 19-mm ASTM A325-X bolts arranged on a

vertical line and spaced 50 mm apart are used as a bracket
connection to an A36 steel member. If the capacity of one bolt for
this case is 250 MPa, use elastic center method to calculate the
largest possible vertical load P (in kN), 100 mm from the centroid of
the bolt group, the connection can carry.
Note: The capacity of the bolt group is reached when at least one
bolt has just reached its capacity.
Situation 3 (11/27). Consider the bridge system shown with posts
1000 m apart. The bridge is expected to carry an equivalent uniform
traffic load of 10 kN/m throughout the length of roadway. The
roadway has a (carriageway) width of 14 m, a thickness of 200 mm,
3
and is made of concrete with unit weight 23.5 kN/m . Vertical cables,
spaced 10 m apart, transfer the roadway loads to the parabolic cable
with sag of 50 m. All cables, circular in section, have allowable stress
of 550 MPa.

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 Selected Problems from Civil Engineering Board Exam Problems (Philippines)

(1) How long should the parabolic cable be?

(a) 1005.01 m (c) 1005.96 m
(b) 1005.77 m (d) 1006.63 m
(2) Rounded to the nearest 25 mm, what is the required diameter
of the parabolic cable?
(a) 650 mm (c) 700 mm
(b) 675 mm (d) 725 mm
(3) Rounded to the nearest 5 mm, what is the required diameter
of the vertical cables?
(a) 45 mm (c) 55 mm
(b) 50 mm (d) 60 mm

Situation 4 (09/26). A 6-m metal bar is subjected to tension test,

and produces the following stress-strain diagram below. A tensile
force is applied to the bar gradually until it elongates by 50 mm, and
then the force is gradually released. What is the resulting permanent
deformation of the bar?

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 Selected Problems from Civil Engineering Board Exam Problems (Philippines)

(a) 35.8 mm (c) 36.7 mm

(b) 36.2 mm (d) 37.5 mm
Situation 5 (04/16). For the truss and loading shown,

(1) Calculate the normal stress (in MPa) of member BC.

(2) Find the horizontal and vertical displacement (in mm) of joint
B.
(3) Determine the elongation (in mm) of member AB.
Situation 6 (02/20). A 7-meter rectangular-sawn timber beam (E =
10 GPa, σall = 8 MPa, τall = 1 MPa) is 500 mm deep. It is to be supported
at both ends by making notches on the wood as shown. The wood
carries a concentrated load of 10 kN at 2 meters from the right
support. Using 2010 NSCP,

(1) What must be the minimum width (b, in mm) of the beam,
taking into account the stress adjustments due to the depth of
the beam?
(2) How deep must the notch at the left support be (in mm)?
(3) How deep must the notch at the right support be (in mm)?
Solution.
Answer: (1) 45.36 mm (2) 213.08 mm (3) 110.59 mm

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 Selected Problems from Civil Engineering Board Exam Problems (Philippines)

Problem 1. The maximum bending moment on the beam is

56 1052
2034 = = = 14.2857 kN ⋅ m
7 5+2
Since ℎ = 500 mm > 300 mm, the allowable bending stress will be reduced to
> >
300 ? 300 ?
; = ; < = = 8< = = 7.5586 MPa
@Aℎ
BAC 500
DEFG 3HI/DJ0G1J
K3,J-L

Hence, for rectangular beams,

62 614.2857 × 10Q 
; = ⟹ 7.5586 = ⟹ 6 = 45.3599 mm
6ℎ ) 6500)
Problem 2. The shear force at left support is

6 102
RS = = = 2.8571 kN
7 7
Let TU be the depth of the notch. The remaining area on the support has
depth T = T − TU = 500 − TU . Take note that no adjustments in allowable shear
stress due to beam depth will be made. Therefore, by NSCP 2010,
3R T ) 32.8571 × 10  500 )
V = < = ⟹ 1 = < = ⟹ TU = 213.0795 mm
26T T
 245.3599500 − TU  500 − TU
Problem 3. The shear force at right support is

5 105
RW = = = 7.1429 kN
7 7
In a similar way as the previous item, we have
3R T ) 37.1429 × 10  500 )
V = < = ⟹ 1 = < = ⟹ TU = 110.5863 mm
26T T 245.3599500 − TU  500 − TU
Y )
Note: The formula V = [ \ only applies for notches on the tension side of
X
);Y Z Y Z
the beam. For rectangular beams, this only applies when TU ≤ . For this
^
)
problem, both values of TU < 250 mm, which is good.
Situation 8 (06/20). Kana-chan has an urgent meeting at a faraway
place, and has to travel by car from city A to city C as fast as possible.
She travels from A to B at a (constant) speed of 60 kph, and from B
to C at 80 kph, reaching her destination in 8.5 hours. After the
meeting, she returns from C to B at 60 kph, and from B to A at 80

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 Selected Problems from Civil Engineering Board Exam Problems (Philippines)

kph, taking her 9 hours on the return trip. How far is city A from city
C?
Solution.
Answer: 600 km

Let T`a and Tab be the distance from  to c and from c to d, respectively.
From time =
HEDJ31,G
DhGGH
, we have

T`a Tab
+ = 8.5
60 80
and
Tab T`a
+ =9
60 80
which gives T`a = 240 km and Tab = 360 km, and
T`b = T`a + Tab = 240 + 360 = 600 km

Situation 9 (09/28). Use NSCP 2010/2015. A RC beam 300 mm wide

and 600 mm thick is reinforced in tension with five 32-mm bars in
one layer, where fy = 415 MPa and E = 200 GPa. Clear concrete cover
is 40 mm, with fc' = 30 MPa. Calculate the strength reduction factor
of the beam.
(a) 0.65 (c) 0.80
(b) 0.75 (d) 0.90
Solution.
Answer: (b) 0.75

Assume a 10-mm diameter stirrup. We have

T = ℎ − i − !; − 0.5; = 600 − 40 − 10 − 0.532 = 534 mm
T = i + !; + 0.5; = 40 + 10 + 0.532 = 66 mm
Since  = 30 MPa > 28 MPa, we also have
0.05  0.05
j> = 0.85 −  − 28 = 0.85 − 30 − 28 = 0.8357 > 0.65
7 7
Assume that all tension steel yield. Summation of forces about the horizontal
gives
*
0.85 j> i6 = ! $ ⟹ 0.85300.8357i300 = 5 ⋅ 32) 415
4
giving i = 261.0334 mm. Check if tension steel really yields:

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 Selected Problems from Civil Engineering Board Exam Problems (Philippines)

T−i 534 − 261.0334

! = 600 = 600 = 627.4291 MPa > $ yields
i 261.0334
Determine the strain in tension steel,
T−i 534 − 261.0334
o! = 0.003 = 0.003 = 0.003137
i 261.0334
pq
which is between o$ = = = 0.002075 and 0.005. Therefore, the beam is
t>u
rs )vvvvv
in transition stage, and the strength reduction factor
o! − o$ 0.003137 − 0.002075
 = 0.65 + 0.25 = 0.65 + 0.25 = 0.7407
0.005 − o$ 0.005 − 0.002075

Situation 10 (06/09). A 20 kN ball falls freely from rest and strikes a

vertical rod with L = 2 m, A = 5000 mm2 and E = 200 GPa. The rod
shortens by 1 cm after impact. Neglecting air resistance, what is the
velocity of the ball just before striking the rod?
Solution.
Answer: 4.93 m/s

When the 20 kN load is gradually applied, the deformation is

7 20 × 10 2000
wDJ3JE, = = = 0.04 mm
x 5000200 × 10 
The deformation when the same load is dropped from a height h is 1 cm = 10
mm. The height h can be determined using

2ℎ 2ℎ
wE0h3,J = w!" y1 + z1 + { ⟹ 10 = 0.04 y1 + z1 + { ⟹ ℎ = 1240 mm
w!" 0.04
@AAAABAAAAC
E0h3,J K3,J-L

The velocity of impact can now be determined from kinematics to be

|p) = |}) + 25Δ = 0) + 29.811.24 ⟹ |p = 4.9324 m/s

Situation 11.