SE Exam case studies
SE Exam · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Structural Engineering (SE) examination is the NCEES-developed licensure exam for engineers who want to be recognized as structural engineers. It is aimed at experienced practitioners who have already completed the Fundamentals of Engineering step and accumulated structural design experience under a licensed engineer, and who now need to demonstrate competence at the level expected of an independent structural professional. The SE Exam case studies are 5 cases and about 4,244 words.
1Rooftop Unit on a 25-Year-Old Composite Beam
A six-story steel-framed office building from 1998 has W18×35 floor beams at 8 ft on center spanning 32 ft, composite with a 4½ in normal-weight slab on 2 in composite deck. Original drawings show ¾ in headed shear studs at 12 in on center, one per deck rib.
905 words, about 5 min2Tile Floor and a Plumber's Notch in 2×10 Joists
A 1970s two-story wood-frame apartment building has 2×10 Douglas Fir–Larch No. 2 floor joists at 16 in on center, simply spanning 14 ft between bearing walls, with a ¾ in subfloor and carpet.
744 words, about 4 min3Metal Deck Diaphragm and a New Interior Masonry Wall
A single-story 240 ft × 120 ft warehouse has 8 in reinforced CMU perimeter walls 20 ft tall and a roof diaphragm of 1½ in, 22 gage galvanized metal deck, screwed to open-web steel joists at 5 ft on center. There is no concrete topping; the deck is the only diaphragm.
834 words, about 4 min4Torsion from an Asymmetric Shear Wall Layout
A three-story, 100 ft × 60 ft building is braced in the north–south direction by two reinforced concrete shear walls on the east and west end walls, at x = 0 and x = 100 ft. Story height is 12 ft and the floors are 6 in concrete on metal deck.
785 words, about 4 min5Door Opening Cut into a Non-Ductile Shear Wall
A four-story reinforced concrete apartment building built in 1972 is 96 ft × 64 ft, with two 12 in thick, 24 ft long shear walls in the east–west direction, one on each end wall, continuous from foundation to roof at a 12 ft story height. Vertical reinforcement is #5 at 12 in on center in a single curtain; horizontal is #4 at 12 in.
976 words, about 5 min