CIVIL ENGG.

QUESTIONS FOR
INTERVIEW

Prepared by Prof. G.Augustine Maniraj Panian

17- Nov. -2015
Dear students,
Be confident , Prepare without getting tensed
up,
Answer boldly. If you dont know the answers,
politely say so.
All the best, May God be with you.
 CIVIL ENGG.
QUESTIONS FOR
INTERVIEW

Nobody can predict the questions.

Following slides provide some commonly
asked questions.
Some of the questions provide some insight
into the subject .
Be thorough with your RCC and steel codes.
STRIPPING FORMWORK
What is the sequence of removing props
from beams / slabs
Cantilever: starting from the free end and
removing towards the fixed end
Simply supported: starting from mid-span
and moving towards ends simultaneously
Domes / arches : Starting from crown
towards edge.
 PLASTIC MOMENT
In RCC, it is M u, lim

In Steel it is Mp = fyZp
 YIELD LINE THEORY
Basic condition to be fulfilled for application of
yield line theory is that the slab shall be under
reinforced, that is the steel should have yielded.
Hogging moment causes negative yield lines
denoted by dashed lines and sagging moment
causes positive yield lines denoted by full lines.
Yield lines are crack patterns .
Student should be aware of yield line patterns
for slabs of different boundary conditions.
 SIDE FACE
REINFORCEMENT
When the overall depth of beam is
greater than 750 mm side face
reinforcement is required as per IS 456- cl.
26.5.1.3 (p-47)
How design for torsion
for RCC beams is
considered?
Torsion is converted to equivalent
bending moment and shear force and
designed for these equivalent values with
special detailing - clause 41.3 of IS 456
 BMD / SF SHAPES-
SIMPLY SUPPORTED
BMD SHAPE- FIXED
BEAM
 BMD SHAPE-
CONTINUOUS BEAM
udl

BMD PLOTTED ON
TENSION SIDE
 BMD SHAPE- FRAME
SUBJECTED TO LATERAL LOAD

BMD PLOTTED ON
TENSION SIDE
BMD SHAPE- FRAME
SUBJECTED TO UDL
udl

BMD PLOTTED ON
TENSION SIDE
SHEAR AND BENDING STRESS
DISTRIBUTIONS ELASTIC

udl

SHEAR BENDIN
RECTANGULA
R SECTION G
SHEAR AND BENDING STRESS
DISTRIBUTIONS ELASTIC

SHEAR BENDIN
I SECTION
G
 DEFLECTIONS
W

mply supported - central point load -

Fixed udl

Simply supported - udl Deflection in fixed beam subject to udl is

one fifth of that of simply supported
subject to same udl
 GANTRY GIRDERS
Why top flange is strengthened with
channel section?
To account for lateral bending. Lateral
bending is caused by the braking forces in
the crane which act at the flange level
horizontally
Top flange stresses are compressive in
nature and hence the top flanges may
buckle.
CLASSES OF SECTIONS
IN STEEL
Class I- plastic
Class 2- compact
Class 3 semi compact
Class 4- slender
For plastic design the ideal section is
plastic (Class 1) which means they can
develop plastic hinges and have the
rotation capacity.
In Other sections these characteristics are
not fully met (Refer IS 800 (2007) page 17,
 PARABOLIC ARCHES
SUBJECTED TO UDL
The bending moment at any point is zero

SINCE THE SHAPE OF BMD FOR UDL IS PARABOLIC AND THE

SHAPE OF THE STRUCTURE IS ALSO PARABOLIC THE BM AT
ANY POINT IS ZERO. THE HORIZONTAL FORCES AT THE
HINGES AT SPRINGING LEVEL NULLIFY THE BM DUE TO
VERTICAL LOADS.
 IS THIS AN ARCH?
No this is not an arch. One support is roller.
Hence under vertical loads the supports do
not develop any horizontal force. So the
arch behaves like a beam.

Roller
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
ILD AND BMD
ILD shows the BM at a chosen point as
the unit load occupies different positions.
BMD shows the BM at various points of
the beam for a defined position of loads
 KINEMATIC
INDETERMINACY OF
FIXED BEAM

As the node points , that is the supports,

have zero degrees of freedom, the
kinematic indeterminacy is zero.
 KINEMATIC
INDETERMINACY OF
TRUSS
Each joint has 2 DoF except the supports.
If the support is roller it has 1 DoF and if it
is hinged it has 0 DoF
Kinematic indeterminacy = 0+2+2+1+1
=6
DIRECTION OF SWAY

THE LOAD IS ECCENTRIC TO THE LEFT. SWAY TAKES

PLACE TO THE RIGHT
DIRECTION OF SWAY
UDL

I 2I

LOADING IS SYMMETRIC. RIGHT COLUMN IS STIFFER.

SWAY TAKES PLACE ON THE STIFFER SIDE.
 TWO TYPES OF
TORSION IN SLABS
Compatibility Torsion at the junction
between beam and slab
Equilibrium torsion caused by
overhanging slab at the beam ( portico
beam)
 CIRCULAR RING BEAM BELOW
WATER TANK SUPPORTED BY
COLUMNS
At any section there are three forces:
BM
SF
Torsion
WALLS OF RECTANGULAR TANK

If L/B >2, SHORT walls are designed as slab

supported by long walls in the portion above H/4 or I
m ( whichever is greater) slabs subjected to
horizontal bending. They are also subjected to direct
tension in the same direction as bending tension.
Bottom portion is designed as vertical cantilevers.
LONG walls are designed as vertical cantilever slabs.
If L/B <2, the walls are designed as continuous
horizontal frame above H/4 or I m ( whichever is
greater) . Bottom portion is designed as vertical
cantilevers
 DOMES

Subjected to hoop and meridonial

compressive stresses.
But if the angle shown is greater than
103 there will hoop tension.

103
0
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

OREDER OF PRESSURES IN INCREASING

MAGNITUDES
Active earth pressure
Earth Pressure at rest
Passive earth pressure

Passive earth pressure is around three

times that of active earth pressure
 RETAINING WALLS

Cantilever retaining wall 4 - 6m

Counterfort retaining wall > 6 m

In Counterfort retaining wall the toe, heel,

stems slabs act as continuous ones whereas
they act as cantilever slabs in cantilever walls.
Only the counterfort portion acts like cantilever.
Counterfort is an example of beam with varying
depth. (non prismatic)
 BRIDGES

Most of the bridges are simply supported.

Though continuous beams are structurally
economical they develop huge moments and
shear when the foundation settles even by a
few millimeters. Since bridge sections have high
moment of inertia I the additional moment =

is very high even some times greater than the

max. design moments due to DL and moving
loads.
 STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS

frequency of vibration = radians/s

Time period = s

Where k = stiffness and m = mass

Less the stiffness more the time period
and less earthquake forces
 RESPONSE SPECTRUM

It is the plot between Time period (T) and

the horizontal acceleration it is subjected
to when a single degree of freedom system
(k,m, damping ) is placed in a given time
history, that is, earthquake vibrations.
 MODES OF VIBRATIONS

These are inherent properties of the structure

and depends on only k , m and damping.
These are not affected by external forces like
earthquakes.
For a given structure the modes are constant.
If a structure is displaced according to a mode
shape , u(0), the resultant vibration will be
always be a simple harmonic one.
 MODES OF VIBRATIONS 3
storey shear building

I MODE all
II MODE I and II III MODE
storey masses
storey masses Masses are
are on side
are one side placed on
and the III alternate sides
storey mass on
MODELING OF SDOF SYSTEM
SUBJECT TO GROUND
VIBRATIONS (EARTHQUAKE)
Mass = m

Stiffness = k
Damping = c
Displacement =
u(t)
 RCC

Minimum longitudinal bar diameter in column- 12

mm. No minimum for beams. Minimum steel = 0.8%
of BxD
IS 1392 deals with design of ductile EQ resistant
structures
Minimum slab reinforcement is 0.12% of gross area of
cross section = 0.12 (b= 1000mm)D/100
Ordinary concrete M20
Standard concrete M25 to M55 @ intervals of 5
High strength concrete M60 to M80
 RCC

Modulus of elasticity of concrete =Ec =

Flexural strength of concrete =

5 environmental exposure conditions = Mild,
Moderate, Severe, Very severe, Extreme nominal
cover is based on these conditions varying 20 mm, 30
mm, 45 mm, 50 mm, 75 mm respectively
Expansion joint for RCC @ every 45 m.
Expansion joint for Steel buildings @ every 180m
onwards
 FLAT SLABS

Column heads are provided to reduce shear

Column drops are provided to take care of
high hogging moment near the columns and
take care of punching shear
Using flat slab construction ceiling height
can be reduced so that for the given height of
building more stroreys can be
accommodated.
 BALANCED /
UNDER REINFORCED /
OVER REINFORCED

When the strain in concrete at the extreme fibre is 0.0035

and steel also simultaneously reaches a strain 0.002+f y / 1.15Es
it is called balanced section
If the strain in concrete is less than 0. 0035 and strain IN
STEEL is greater than or equal to 0.002+fy / 1.15Es it is called
under reinforced section.
If the strain in concrete is equal to 0. 0035 and strain IN STEEL
is less than 0.002+fy / 1.15Es it is called over reinforced
section. A section shall not be designed as over
reinforced section since it will fail suddenly with
compression failure ( strain greater than 0.0035)
without any warning since steel would not have yielded.