Looking for resource advice
Hey ARE 5.0 Community! I'm getting ready to take my last exam, PDD. I failed once already and know that I need to sharpen my structures knowledge before the retake. Can any of you recommend one resource, online or book, that you felt really helped you get a solid enough understanding of structures that you needed to pass PDD? Thank you for your help, Rachel
PS- The ARE Handbook suggests the following. What about these?
Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders by James Ambrose and Patrick Tripeny John Wiley & Sons,
Structural Design: A Practical Guide for Architects by James R. Underwood and Michele Chiuini John Wiley & Sons
Structures by Schodek, Daniel, Bechthold, Martin
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The Ballast material offered a good brush up on structural concepts for me. Admittedly, I skipped all the calculations, or anything that made me want to call an engineer. I watched a bunch of youtube videos, it helped by putting the concepts I was reading about into graphics and animations. I also relayed on my professional experience from working with engineers and contractors in the field. I did not use the books you mentioned above. I did not find AGS to be very helpful. I pulled an old copy of a structures book from college, but I don't think it had any added value. I passed first attempt no problem.
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I re-read all the structural sections in Ballast. I made sure I actually did the math in the practice questions. I was overwhelmed by the 'Simplified Engineering' book, which is over 1,000 pages.
I found this handout to be a good resource. You should be able to find the reactions for typical loading scenarios. https://faculty.arch.tamu.edu/media/cms_page_media/4198/NS8-2beamdiagrams_RycFHMO.pdf
Study 1, 2, 7, 8, 15 - 17.
Know about shear and lateral forces. And read the sections on steel, wood, and concrete in Ballast.
Hope this helps!
Rebekka O'Melia, NCARB, Registered Architect, B. Arch, M. Ed, Step UP, Step UP ARE 5.0 Courses
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Rachel,
I had a Ballast ARE 4.0 Structures book (back when they had a test that was just Structures) and that really helped a lot. It includes a LOT of equations, and I skipped over 95% of them. The ones that I focused on were in the realm of "what is the moment about point A?" or "what does the shear diagram look like for this loading condition?" I did those calculations only. The rest of the book I just read because it covered concepts and structural systems very well. Whenever I got to a part in the chapter which went into the calculations for trusses, beams, etc etc I literally flipped past those pages. This approach paid off for me on the exam.
With regards to earthquakes - FEMA's manual is an excellent read. I think it was chapters 4 and 5 but it's been a bit for me since I took this test. It's free online. You do not need to learn things like how to calculate base shear in a building - don't focus on that. Focus on the approaches to lateral design and how they affect architecture and the selection of structural systems.
The other great book that deals with selection and properties of structural systems is the Architect's Studio Companion.
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