THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

FINAL EXAMINATION SEMESTER 2, 2012

CVEN 3302
STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR AND DESIGN

Time allowed - 3 hours

Total number of questions - 4
Questions are NOT of equal value

Answer Part A and Part B in the Exam Books provided

Candidates may bring any aids to the examination

including electronic calculators
This paper may be retained by the candidate
All answers must be legibly written in ink. Pencils may only
be used for drawings, sketches and graphs
In both Parts A and B, show all relevant working and state any assumptions made

PART A
QUESTION 1 (30 marks)
The reinforced concrete beam shown in Figure 1 carries a vertically downwards uniformly
distributed load of w* = 50 kN/m over its full length, which includes the members selfweight, and a vertically upwards load of P* = 200 kN at the end of the cantilever, as shown.
(a) Solve for the reactions RA and RC and sketch the bending moment diagram and shear
force diagram for the beam.
(b) Design the beam for bending and sketch your solution showing bar locations and
approximate bar cut-offs.
In your design, take the depth of the beam as D = 600 mm, the width of the beam as
b = 400 mm, the clear cover to the stirrups as 25 mm and the diameter of the stirrups
as 10 mm. Take f c 32 MPa and f sy 500 MPa .
(c) With the following assumptions, estimate the short and long-term deflection at the
mid-span section B of the member:
Icr = 0.4Ig
Service dead loads: wG = w*/1.35 and PG =P*/1.35
Service live loads: wQ = PQ = 0
Asc = 0; kcs = 2
Note, all loads shown in Figure 1 are factored design loads.

Figure 1

QUESTION 2 (20 Marks)

Sketch the M-N interaction diagram for the section given in Figure 2 for bending about the XX axis. In your solution calculate the depth of the plastic centroid as measured from the top
of the section and then calculate the following 4 points:
(i)
(ii)

Pure bending point;

Balanced point;

(iii)

Decompression point located where ku d D ; and

Squash load.

(iv)

Take f c 40 MPa and f sy 500 MPa .

Figure 2

PART B
QUESTION 3 (25 Marks)
A 1000WB296 beam of Grade steel 300 shown in Figure 3 carries two factored design
uniformly distributed loads w* (kN/m) and 2w* (kN/m) as well as a concentrated load at
point A of P = 5w* (kN). All forces act on the top flange. The beam is fully braced at points
A, B, C and D.
(a)

Determine the reactions at supports B and C and draw the shear force and bending
moment diagrams for the beam. Show the magnitude of all peak values.

(b)

Calculate the effective lengths, m and s for segments AB, BC and CD.

(c)

Determine the maximum design load w* that can be carried by this beam.

P = 5w*(kN)

2w*(kN/m)
w*(kN/m)

5m

10 m

Figure 3

5m

QUESTION 4 (25 Marks)

The planar steel frame shown in Figure 4 consists of beam-column AC (400WC303) and
beam CD (900WB257). It carries a factored uniformly distributed load of 10 kN/m, plus two
factored concentrated loads, P1*= 10 kN and P2*= 20 kN, as shown.
(a)

Draw the axial force, shear force and bending moment diagrams for beam-column AC
and beam CD.

(b)

Determine the out-of-plane member capacity of beam-column AC, if the moments are
carried by its major axis. Make any other assumptions as appropriate.

Note: support A is fixed.

w*=10 kN/m

30

P2*=20 kN
B

P1*=10 kN

5m
3m

6m

Figure 4