In theory, it should be simple to study for the SE Lateral exam because the subject matter is limited to just wind and seismic. However, what I found when studying for the SE Lateral exam was that there was no single unified study material similar to the SE Vertical exam that I could have used. Luckily, I was able to find some excellent in-depth lateral design study materials that helped me tremendously in my study. In this post I will share with you these 7 study materials so you can use them to self-study or refresh your knowledge of wind and seismic design.
I want to start off this list with wind forces because I remembered that I focused a lot (and maybe too much) on seismic when studying for the Lateral exam. Although wind design is a smaller part of the Lateral exam, it is still important for your to know and study for it because you won’t pass the exam if you do poorly on the wind questions. Starting with ASCE 7-10, the wind code had increased greatly in volume and complexity. At the same time, however, there is not a lot of study materials out there that focus on teaching and explaining wind design.
The one study material that does the best job at explaining wind design is the Wind Design Manual by ICC (Inter national Code Council). It consists of 9 detailed design examples that address a lot of wind design concepts that you might find on the Lateral exam. The in-depth explanations for each design example are thorough and easy to follow. There is one word of caution: the latest Wind Design Manual is based on ASCE 7-16, while the SE exam is still based on ASCE 7-10 so there are some minor differences that you need to watch out for so make sure you keep this in mind if you intend to study and bring this reference to the SE exam.
The best review reference to study seismic forces is the Seismic Design Review Workbook by Steve Hiner. Although this workbook is intended for the California Seismic exam, I used it extensively to review and study for the SE Lateral exam. If you are not familiar with seismic design or don’t do this work for a living, I recommend you carve out time to study this whole workbook. Part 1 of this workbook does a great job summarizing the seismic concepts that you need to know. In addition, it relates these concepts to the actual building code and put everything in a logical flow. Part 2 of the workbook has 23 word problems involving concepts that could be asked on the afternoon portion of the Lateral exam. Finally, Part 3 of the workbook has 456 multiple choice problems, many of which are similar to what you might find in the morning portion of the Lateral exam. This is definitely the gold standard for seismic design reference material.
If you need additional seismic study materials, consider the 2015 IBC SEAOC Structural/Seismic Design Manual Volume 1: Code Application Examples. It consists of 50+ word problems dealing with seismic design. The problems are ordered in a chronological fashion of when the concept/equations appear in the code which makes it easy to study if you are not too familiar with the seismic code. The level of difficulty for the problems is also similar to what you might see on the exam so you are not wasting time learning concepts that you don’t need to know. I remembered working through all 50+ problems when studying for the SE exam and learning a lot of concepts that I was not aware of before. This is an excellent self-studying tool for seismic concepts.
The AISC Seismic Design Manual is not only a required reference from NCEES, but it is also an excellent study guide for seismic steel design! To do well on the steel design portion of the Lateral exam, you will need to know how to do design lateral systems such as moment frames, concentrically braced frames, and eccentrically braced frame. Luckily, this required reference does a great job in guiding you step-by-step through each lateral system design with detailed example problems. Try to go through all the design examples if possible but at least be familiar with where to find a design example for a steel lateral system if prompted on the exam.
The best reference to study wood lateral load design is the Design of Wood Structures by Breyer et al. This textbook has in-depth explanations and illustrations of everything you ever want to know about wood design in an easy to understand manner. There’s a fairly good amount of ink in this textbook devoted to explaining seismic design and seismic detailing for wood members. I remembered when I was studying for the Lateral exam, I was really struggling to understand collector design. However, after reading through the seismic portion of this textbook, I gained really understanding of collector design along with all the other seismic topics.
I recommend the Design of Reinforced Masonry Structures by Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada for studying of masonry seismic design. ACI 530/TMS 402, the masonry code in effect for this exam, is a fairly short code to read through. However, the main difficulty with masonry design is not the length of the code but knowing how to apply the equations and concepts in the code to real life design, especially since masonry design is usually not taught in school. This reference is a life saver because it is basically ACI 530/TMS 402, but with more explanations and examples of how the equations are applied in practice. Additionally, Appendix A at the end of the reference has three excellent in-depth seismic design examples of a one-story warehouse, a six-story hotel, and a two-story laboratory building to further demonstrate the concepts.
I found it especially difficult to find a good study source for seismic design of concrete because it’s not easy to do hand calculations for seismic design of concrete structures. The best study source I found was the SEAOC Structural/Seismic Design Manual Volume 3, Examples for Concrete Buildings. I suggest you read through this reference and try to understand the solutions. You will not be required to do parts of the problems where the data are generated from a computer, but you need to understand parts of the problems that involve hand calculations.
The list of study materials above is not meant to be a comprehensive list of study materials, but just a must-have list of study materials that you should have. You should supplement the list above with your own study materials from your friends, school, or work. If you are looking for more study materials for the SE exam, click here to get an exclusive 15% discount from PPI, the industry leader in SE exam prep materials. As for the SE Vertical exam, there’s really only one must-have reference. Do you know what it is? Click here to find out!
Finally, if you don’t practice seismic design on a daily basis or if you are unsure about seismic concepts, I highly recommend you take a review class. PPI has an online review class for the Vertical & Lateral Exam that you should consider. Click here if you want to sign up or learn more about these review classes.