UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

Department of Civil Engineering

SWK211 STRENGTH OF MATERIALS II - SEMESTER TEST 2

25 May 2022

ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS

CLOSED BOOK

Internal examiners: Prof E P Kearsley

External examiner: Prof SW Jacobsz

Marks: [60] in 90 minutes

Number of questions: 4

Total number of pages: 9

SURNAME

FIRST NAMES

STUDENT NUMBER

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: TOTAL MARK : (60)

1. Answer all questions by writing
down all intermediate steps (if Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
applicable) and not only the final (15) (15) (15) (15)
answer.
2. Non-programmable calculators are
allowed.
3. Opposite pages can be used for
scribbling but these pages will not
be marked unless you CLEARLY
indicate that it should be marked.

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Question 1 (15 marks)

The cable ABCD is held in the position

shown by the horizontal force P. A D

a) Determine P and the force in each

segment of the cable? (12)
b) If the entire cable has the same
diameter, and the maximum stress B
in the cable is not allowed to exceed
30 MPa, what should the minimum C
diameter of the cable be based on
your calculations in a? (3)

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Question 2 (15 marks)

Draw shear force and bending moment diagrams for the frame ABCDE in the sketch.

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Question 3 (15 marks)

The engineering company you recently started working for has hired an
electrician to inspect all the light bulbs in your building. The stepladder he
brought along consists of two legs (see figure below) pinned together at C. The
ladder is resting on a rough floor having a coefficient of static friction at A and
B equal to 0.48. The health and safety representative at work, however, is
concerned about his safety and have asked you to check, as engineer, whether
the electrician will be able to safely change a light bulb without the ladder
starting to slide. The electrician weighs 800 N and the uniform legs AC and BC
weigh 110 N and 70 N, respectively.

What is the maximum height (h) that the electrician is allowed to climb up the
ladder before it will start to slide?

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Question 4 (15 marks)

a) Use integration to derive from first principles an equation to determine the maximum deflection of a
cantilever beam with length L that supports a point load P at the free end of a beam with constant cross
section. (5)
b) Calculate the actual deflection of the free end of the beam with properties as indicated. (10)

(Hint: For the second part of the problem, you can consider the two sections as two separate beams with
unique boundary conditions when calculating the total deflection.)

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