CVEN90049: Structural Theory and Design 2

3x Individual Assignments (5% each)
GUNT Lab Sheet (5%)
Design (Group) Assignment (10%)
3 hour exam (70%)

As mentioned above, the assignments for this subject are pretty involved and take up quite a lot of time. That isn’t to say they are bad, however; they force you to engage with and reify some of the content being taught, and they’re not too difficult once you get your head around them (which can take a while). Again, with this subject, it’s volume more than anything that makes it difficult.

As with ST&D1, there is a major “design assignment,” this time involving the design of a multi-storey carpark using both concrete and steel members, as well as drawing up the details in AutoCAD. Though it can be completed in groups of up to 6 people (self-chosen, which is nice), it is still a pretty massive undertaking and can be somewhat life-consuming if you leave it till the last couple of days. But like ST&D1, it’s nice to come out of a subject having done a “landmark” piece of work that you can hang your hat on. That said, it should be worth more than 10% for the amount of work it entails, even with a 4-6 person group.

I could almost copy and paste my review of Structural Theory and Design 1 into here and it wouldn’t be much different. ST&D2 has the same staff, covers essentially the same content, but steps up the level of time you’ll need to commit to get a good mark (which was already high in ST&D1).

One of the best things about this subject is that it provides full solutions to past papers dating back to 2011 (again, this should really be a standard at the uni). This means that you can really get a good feel for what is examinable, and should be able to set yourself up pretty well.

This year’s exam was really tough though. Consensus was that it was way too long. Usually I finish exams well within the allotted time (or at least with a few minutes to spare), but this time I didn’t get to finish everything despite writing non-stop for the full 3 hours, without taking a second to check anything. Generally, they are quite lenient markers in this subject (they purport to be more interested in the method than the bottom line), so I still think I’ll do alright, but I don’t think whoever wrote the exam anticipated its arduousness (that actually is a word btw).

One thing I’d add to the assessment of this subject is a slight focus on the “theory” side of Structural Theory and Design. The assessment is basically all quantitative, and – as you have the Steel and Concrete standards to follow – you can probably do okay without really comprehending what you are doing. Some more qualitative and theoretical questions might prompt a less superficial understanding and would be a nice break from the 3 hour numerical bombardment that embodies the current exam format.

Yes

Elisa Lumantarna (most of the lectures) and Massoud Sofi

The subject is split into 4 parts: in the first 4 weeks you’ll cover the structural design of concrete beams, slabs and columns; the next four are on steel beams and columns; and the last 4 are on some fairly novel methods for finding bending moment and shear force diagrams (i.e. the direct stiffness and virtual work methods). If you’ve done ST&D1 (which basically everyone heading into this subject will have), you’ll have already done some preliminary stuff on the steel and concrete sections. ST&D2 steps this up a notch, with modification factors in place of some of the assumptions made in the earlier subject as well as some stuff on the detailing of reinforcement and connections.

Elisa Lumantarna is the primary lecturer here again and is once again really good. While the subject matter for ST&D isn’t too hard per se, it can get intricate at times, and she has a good knack for simplifying the complexity of some of the topics.

But the issue with this subject is that it all happens at a really fast pace. With three hours of lecturers a week that all introduce new content, as well as lengthy tute sheets and lots of laborious assignments, things can get over the top. Each of the elements would be fine in isolation, but, as the assignments naturally lag the coursework, being caught up in the content of the past few weeks really inhibits your chance of learning the content of the current week. It means that you’re almost always behind by the very design of the subject. Not a great feeling, especially with similar things happening in other subjects.

To fix this I’d try to reign in the three weeks it took to teach the direct stiffness stuff (bring it down to two), and use week 8 as a revision week. This is when the design assignment (mentioned below) is in full swing, which makes it really hard to take in new stuff while trying to apply what you have just learnt to a major project.

This is a subject that is very indicative of the “step up” that Masters entails. I probably put more work into this one than I did in any subject of undergrad, and definitely more than any other subject this semester. But I think I might be in the minority in that I enjoy these subjects. Lots of people struggle with the content – which is understandable as it does get a bit intricate and convoluted at times – but if you have a pretty good handle on it and put the work in you will get rewarded with solid marks. And I find that if a subject is well taught and the assessment/marking is fair, then your performance is entirely in your hands. That’s all you can really ask for IMO.

Yes, and fully worked solutions are provided dating back to 2011 (amazing)

4/5

No textbooks, but you'll need to download and print two Standards that are to be used in the open-book exam:
AS3600-2009 - Concrete Structures
HB48 - Steel Design Handbook

These can be printed out at Officeworks for about $45 all up including covers and coil binding (which you want as the space on an exam table is notoriously small)

As I did with ST&D1, I stopped going to tutes in about week 5. It’s not because they weren’t useful; the level of teaching here is a bit better and more engaging than ST&D1. The main reason I stopped going is because I got behind. As the tutes cover the content that is taught in that same week (i.e. stuff being taught in a Monday lecture is the tute material for Wednesday (this usually lags by a week for most subjects)), if you’re not up to date with the lectures – which I really wasn’t in any meaningful way until the end of SWOTVAC – there is no point going to the tute.

Thankfully, fully worked solutions are provided at the end of each week on the LMS, which is really appreciated and should be standard among all subjects (looking at you, Maths and Stats Department).

1x two-hour lecture, 1x one-hour lecture, 1x one-hour tutorial per week, and a couple of optional computer labs spaced through the semester

Semester 1, 2015.

H1