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    David Kaplan

    Arjumand,

    If you are needing to know the answer to this question for other reasons or just to satisfy your curiosity - no worries, happy to let others answer this for you.  But for the purposes of passing the ARE, you should not focus on detailed structural calculations questions like this.  It is highly unlikely that you will get anything at this level on your exams.  And let's assume the worst and that I'm wrong.  In that instance, I'm here to tell you it will be one of these questions, not two.  Guess your best guess and move on - it's only 1 point.  Lots of people on here stressed not overstudying structural formulas, and having taken and passed the three exams where they would be included, I can tell you that this advice paid off.

    Solely trying to help steer your studying.  Again, if you want to know how to solve this for other reasons, full steam ahead.

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    Robin Kuc

    I passed my last exam (PDD) on July 1 and want to express my deep gratitude, David Kaplan, for all of your knowledgeable and sensible comments over the years!  I saved many of your comments and re-read them while studying for each exam -- they were extremely helpful.

    Thanks so much !!!

     

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    David Kaplan

    Rebekka,

    Just to clarify with you and everyone else - I don't disagree with you.  My advice in general here is solely based on a "return on investment" approach to ARE studying.  It is true that a question like this and at this level of "structural complexity" could come up, but I strongly feel it is one question on the ARE, and possibly two.  Citing that all questions are equal on this exam, and more importantly, the sheer amount of information that everyone has to study for these tests in general across several engineering disciplines, what I found was that you have to pick and choose your battles.  The battle that I refused to fight when I took the tests was relearning structural engineering from college so that I could properly answer questions like this or similar.  I wasn't willing to relearn how to size a W-shape beam, calculate the force in a plate with 10 bolts, etc. etc.  The ARE 4.0 exam did in fact have many questions at this level, but 5.0 seems to have finally caught up with the real world of our field and opted out of that.  For 5.0, I did focus on design concepts, types of structural systems and their pros/cons, and very basic load calculations.  That strategy paid off for me, and for others on here as well.  

    Again, I'm not trying to prevent anyone from understanding how to solve this specific structural problem.  If someone wants to learn this - by all means have at it.  There's just simply SO MUCH to study for PPD and PDD that it helps to weed things out wherever possible, and this was one area that I feel can be weeded out with very limited effect on your score.  

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    David Kaplan

    Great to hear, thanks!

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    Arjumand Anjum

    Thanks David, appreciate your input :)

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    Ransolina Sawyerr

    Just out of curiousity, is there an answer to this question? Also, although we may not have to calculate it for the exam, in terms of shear strength of the bolts, what is the concept or principle that this question is testing? Do we have to understand the difference between ASTM A325 and ASTM A36?

    If there is a chapter or page number(s) from one of the NCARB listed reference materials that could help me understand how to approach a question like this, I would really appreciate it!

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    Rebekka O'Melia

    The bolts are going to determine the maximum force that P can be, I think.  The steel plates are stronger than the bolts I'd say.  I'd need #s from an ASTM A325 bolt chart to solve it. 

    Rebekka O'Melia, Registered Architect, NCARB, B. Arch, M. Ed, Step UP, Step UP ARE 5.0 Courses

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    Li Xing

    Out of curiosity, I want to jump in with my understanding as well. 

    I kind of agree with Rebekka, this is a shear quesiton.  So I think the key to determine the answer is the bearing strength for the bolt and its properties like connected area.

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    Rebekka O'Melia (Edited )

    You totally could get a question like that on the ARE!  You'd need # from a steel chart.  What is the answer?  One side has 2 - 3/4" thick plates and the other side just one 1" one.  But the bolts seem critical here and are probably the weakest link.

    Rebekka O'Melia, Registered Architect, NCARB, B. Arch, M. Ed, Step UP, Step UP ARE 5.0 Courses

     

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    Rebekka O'Melia (Edited )

    You do need to know quite a bit about structures for the exam.  You will need to know steel shapes, concrete const, and wood, and their types and properties.  You will need to know span ranges.  You need to how to find reaction forces, and moments, etc.  You also need to know what shear is, and what lateral forces are.  I agree that you won't have to do more than a handful of complicated math computations.  And I agree, if it's long and complicated and/or you aren't sure how to do it, you should skip it!

    This question hinges on the shear strength of the bolts.  Not sure what # they used.  I'd guess the answer is D??  What's the answer?

    Rebekka O'Melia, Registered Architect, NCARB, B. Arch, M. Ed, Step UP, Step UP ARE 5.0 Courses

     

     

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