Final session before Exam 2. Consolidate your building frame model, try an alternate geometry, and make sure you can explain every number ETABS gives you.
PracticeModel RefinementExam 2 PrepCO1 & CO2
— Note
Day 11 is Exam 2 (Final)
The final exam covers Days 7–10. You will be asked to model, analyse, and interpret a building frame with lateral loads.
By now you should be able to build a 3D building frame from scratch in under 30 minutes. Use Day 10 to stress-test that skill.
Content Coming Soon
Signs of a well-built model: analysis completes without warnings, base reactions sum correctly, drift is reasonable (not zero, not absurd), moment diagrams make intuitive sense.
02 — Concept
Course outcomes — what you've now achieved
Days 1–10 have built toward two course outcomes. Check them off.
CO1 — Structural Analysis
Model RC frames (beams, portal, multi-story building) in ETABS. Apply dead, live, wind, and seismic loads per BNBC. Extract moment, shear, axial forces, and drift.
CO2 — Bridge Loading
Model bridge portal frames. Apply AASHTO HL-93 truck and lane loads. Determine critical load positions and calculate Strength I combination forces.
03 — Walkthrough
Day 10 challenge problems
Attempt at least one of these before the exam.
Challenge Problems Coming Soon
Problem A: Irregular 4-story frame (asymmetric plan) — where does the centre of rigidity shift? Does torsion appear under symmetric wind loading?
Problem B: Same building, change soil type from S2 to S3 in BNBC seismic. How does base shear change? Which columns are now overstressed?
Problem C: Add a shear wall to one bay. How does the drift profile change? What fraction of base shear does the wall carry?
04 — Check Yourself
Final self-assessment
Without opening ETABS, answer these on paper:
Final Review Quiz Coming Soon
15 questions — mix of calculation (base shear, drift ratio, story force distribution) and conceptual (what changes if you add a floor, why corner columns attract more moment under seismic, how a shear wall changes the lateral stiffness distribution).