Home/MCQ Practice/Strength of Materials MCQs/Columns and Struts

Structures·MCQ practice

Columns and Struts MCQs – Part 3

10 questions. Tap an option to check it instantly, then read the solution.

Question 31Medium
A slender section buckles locally:
Full explanation

Answer: A. before reaching the yield moment

IS 800 class 4 (slender) sections have such thin plates that local buckling occurs before the extreme fibre yields.

Question 32Medium
In the case of eccentrically loaded struts, a ______ is preferred.
Full explanation

Answer: C. composite section

Book key: composite (built-up) section, which places material far from the centroid and can be proportioned for the combined axial + bending stress. Some textbooks give hollow section.

Question 33Easy
The core of a circular section short column of diameter d is a concentric circular area having a diameter of:
Full explanation

Answer: A. d/4

No tension when e ≤ Z/A = (πd³/32)/(πd²/4) = d/8, so the core is a circle of radius d/8, diameter d/4.

Question 34Easy
The intensity of longitudinal (bending) stress in a cross-section at any point a distance r from the neutral axis is proportional to:
Full explanation

Answer: A. r

σ = (M/I)·r — linear in r.

Question 35Medium
A short column of symmetric (rectangular) cross-section of width h, made of a brittle material, carries a vertical load P at an eccentricity e from the centre line. To avoid tensile stress, e should be less than or equal to:
Full explanation

Answer: B. h/6

σmin = (P/bh)(1 − 6e/h) ≥ 0 → e ≤ h/6.

Question 36Easy
The maximum dimensions of the core section of a rectangular cross-section (b × d) under eccentric loading on a column are:
Full explanation

Answer: D. b/3 and d/3

Core = rhombus with semi-diagonals b/6 and d/6, i.e. full diagonals b/3 and d/3.

Question 37Medium
An eccentric load placed within which of the following central cores of a rectangular column section (width b, depth d) produces no tension in the cross-section?
Full explanation

Answer: D. A rhombus with full diagonals b/3 and d/3

The no-tension zone is the rhombus with full diagonals b/3 and d/3.

Question 38Easy
The limiting values of Poisson's ratio are:
Full explanation

Answer: A. −1 and 0.5

From K = E/3(1 − 2μ) > 0 → μ < 0.5; from G = E/2(1 + μ) > 0 → μ > −1.

Question 39Easy
Proof resilience is the maximum strain energy stored in a body up to the:
Full explanation

Answer: B. elastic limit

Proof resilience = maximum energy stored without permanent set = energy up to the elastic limit.

Question 40Easy
The specimen in a Charpy impact test is supported as a:
Full explanation

Answer: B. simply supported beam

Charpy: horizontal specimen on two supports, struck at mid-span behind the notch. Izod: vertical cantilever.