Free PE-S Practice Questions

Question 1

A bolted steel tension member must resist a factored axial force of 140 kip. Its gross area is 4.00 in^2, its net area after hole deductions is 3.20 in^2, and its shear-lag factor U is 0.80. The steel has Fy = 50 ksi and Fu = 65 ksi. Connection strength and block shear have been checked separately and do not govern. Using AISC 360-16 with phi = 0.90 for yielding and phi = 0.75 for rupture, which design strength and conclusion govern?

Accepted Answer

125 kip, net-section rupture; inadequate for the demand.

Answer

156 kip, net-section rupture; adequate for the demand.

Answer

180 kip, gross-section yielding; adequate for the demand.

Answer

150 kip, net-section rupture; adequate for the demand.

Question 2

Relocating a rooftop mechanical opening interrupts a glulam drag strut that transfers wood-diaphragm shear to a shear wall. The revised drawings terminate the strut at each side of the opening. Panel-edge nailing is adequate, and the wall has reserve shear capacity. What detail is still essential to complete the lateral load path?

Accepted Answer

A collector bypass with designed force transfer at its corners and shear-wall connection.

Answer

Larger wall hold-downs to absorb the force previously carried by the interrupted drag strut.

Answer

Larger exterior diaphragm chords to recover the global stiffness lost at the new opening.

Answer

Opening headers sized for gravity reactions, with panel-edge nailing matching adjacent areas.

Question 3

In a full-scale gravity-load test, a cold-formed C-joist develops concentrated folds in its web immediately above a short end bearing. The member does not twist along its span, and the flange-lip assemblies remain undistorted away from the bearing. Calculated flexural and beam-shear strengths have not been reached. Identify the failure mechanism and the corresponding region that needs strengthening.

Accepted Answer

Web crippling; strengthen the concentrated-reaction bearing region.

Answer

Lateral-torsional buckling; provide closer bridging along the unbraced span.

Answer

Distortional buckling; restrain rotation of the flange-lip assembly.

Answer

Flexural local buckling; stiffen the compressed flange plate.

Question 4

An investigation of low concrete cylinder strengths produces three valid core tests from the affected placement. Their average is 91% of specified f'c, and the lowest individual core is 82% of f'c. Sampling, conditioning, and testing comply with the approved procedure; no separate evidence of inadequate structural performance has been identified. Under ACI 318-14, these results support which conclusion?

Accepted Answer

The represented concrete satisfies the core-based structural adequacy criteria.

Answer

Reject the represented concrete because an individual core is below 85% of f'c.

Answer

Require a structural load test because the core average is below 100% of f'c.

Answer

Replace specified f'c with 91% of f'c and redesign the affected member.

Question 5

For a roof panel on an enclosed low-rise building designed for 150-mph wind, the ASCE 7-16 components-and-cladding calculation gives qh = qi = 45 psf, GCp = -1.40, and GCpi = +/-0.18 at the panel's effective wind area and roof zone. A separate main wind force resisting system calculation uses G = 0.85. What net wind-uplift pressure governs the panel-to-framing connection before crediting stabilizing dead load?

Accepted Answer

71.1 psf

Answer

54.9 psf

Answer

61.7 psf

Answer

63.0 psf

Question 6

During a stressing test of a post-tensioned bridge girder, cracks running parallel to a straight tendon develop in the end block a short distance behind its anchorage. Concrete immediately beneath the anchor plate remains intact. Average longitudinal compression and local bearing checks both satisfy the test criteria. Which mechanism best explains the observed crack pattern?

Accepted Answer

Transverse bursting tension behind the plate as the concentrated anchorage force spreads.

Answer

Anchorage slip and tendon shortening producing a uniform loss of axial precompression.

Answer

Global positive-moment flexure opening cracks at the girder's bottom tension face.

Answer

Localized compressive crushing from inadequate bearing area beneath the anchor plate.

Question 7

A seismic review of a six-story building reports the following for one story in the direction being checked: lateral stiffness is 74% of the story immediately above and 77% of the average stiffness of the three stories above; lateral strength is 84% of the story immediately above. No classification exception applies. The classification under ASCE 7-16 Table 12.3-2 is:

Accepted Answer

Soft-story irregularity, but not extreme soft-story or weak-story irregularity.

Answer

No soft-story or weak-story irregularity, since both adjacent-story ratios exceed 70%.

Answer

Both soft-story and weak-story irregularities, but neither is extreme.

Answer

Extreme soft-story irregularity, but no weak-story irregularity in that direction.

Question 8

A reviewer finds that an ASD calculation for a solid-sawn wood roof beam applies the snow load-duration factor C_D = 1.15 to three properties: bending design value Fb, compression-perpendicular-to-grain bearing value Fc-perp, and modulus of elasticity E used for immediate deflection. Other applicable adjustments are correct. Which revision follows the 2018 NDS?

Accepted Answer

Retain the bending adjustment; omit C_D from bearing and E.

Answer

Retain all three adjustments because the same snow load governs each check.

Answer

Retain the bending and bearing adjustments, but omit C_D from E.

Answer

Retain the bending and E adjustments, but omit C_D from bearing.

Question 9

Equal-length braces in an inverted-V special concentrically braced frame meet at a beam's midspan. The elastic analysis shows their vertical components nearly cancelling. For the AISC 341-16 inelastic beam-design check, which assumption captures the behavior that the elastic result misses?

Accepted Answer

A tension brace can yield while the compression brace buckles, leaving unbalanced vertical beam loading.

Answer

Brace symmetry keeps the vertical components balanced after the compression brace buckles.

Answer

Simultaneous tensile yielding of both braces maximizes their combined vertical force.

Answer

Capacity design permits a gravity-only beam check when the braces dissipate seismic energy.

Question 10

At the soil interface, a rigid 9-ft by 10-ft rectangular footing carries a service vertical force of 180 kip and a service moment of 360 kip-ft about its centroidal axis parallel to the 10-ft side. These loads include footing and overburden weight. The gross allowable bearing pressure is 5.5 ksf. Assume uniaxial bending, no tensile soil resistance, and a linear pressure distribution over the portion in contact. Determine the maximum contact pressure and the result of the bearing-pressure check.

Accepted Answer

4.80 ksf; the allowable bearing pressure is not exceeded.

Answer

2.40 ksf; the allowable bearing pressure is not exceeded.

Answer

4.67 ksf; the allowable bearing pressure is not exceeded.

Answer

6.00 ksf; the allowable bearing pressure is exceeded.

Free PE-S Practice Questions

Domain 7: Structural Steel [Vertical breadth]

Question 1

Domain 8: Cold-Formed Steel [Vertical breadth]

Question 2

Domain 10: Wood [Vertical breadth]

Question 3

Domain 12: Foundations and Retaining Structures [Vertical breadth]

Question 4

Domain 14: Generation of Loads [Lateral breadth]

Question 5

Domain 15: Load Distribution and Analysis Methods [Lateral breadth]

Question 6

Domain 22: Wood [Lateral breadth]

Question 7

Domain 33: Preparation of documents and construction administration [Vertical depth - Buildings; knowledge area]

Question 8

Domain 34: Concrete superstructure [Vertical depth - Bridges; scenario topic]

Question 9

Domain 40: Steel structure [Lateral depth - Buildings; scenario topic]

Question 10

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