Kerala PSC KWA Draftsman Grade 1 Syllabus 2026 & Exam Pattern – Download PDF for Civil, Mechanical & Electrical

Kerala PSC Draftsman Grade 1 Electrical – KWA Detailed Syllabus 2026

Apart from the topics detailed above, questions from other topics prescribed for the educational qualification of the post may also appear in the question paper. There is no undertaking that all the above topics will be covered in the question paper.

Module 1: Fundamentals of Electricity (10 Marks)

Voltage, current, resistance, energy, power — definitions and units. Ohm’s law and simple problems related to power and energy. Resistance in series and parallel — simple problems. Kirchhoff’s laws (KCL and KVL).

Electrostatics and Electromagnetism: Laws of electrostatics, permittivity, electric flux, flux density, potential and potential difference — equations and problems. Lightning phenomenon, potential gradient, dielectric strength, capacitors in series and parallel, energy stored in a capacitor. Coulomb’s law, permeability, magnetic flux, flux density, reluctance, mmf, Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, Lenz’s law, self-inductance, mutual inductance, energy stored in an inductor, Fleming’s laws.

Module 2: Semiconductor Diodes & Transistors (10 Marks)

Energy band diagrams of conductors, insulators, semiconductors — intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, doping, P & N type, majority/minority carriers. PN junction — drift and diffusion current, depletion layer, potential barrier, forward/reverse bias, Zener and avalanche breakdown, VI characteristics, static/dynamic resistance. Types of diodes — power, Zener, varactor, tunnel diode. DC load line analysis, half-wave, full-wave and bridge rectifiers, capacitor filter circuits, Zener regulator circuits.

Transistors: CB, CE, CC configurations, current relations, input/output characteristics and resistance, current gain, voltage gain, leakage current. Transistor biasing techniques, DC load line, operating point stabilization, single-stage CE amplifier.

FET & Power Electronics: JFET, MOSFET (depletion and enhancement types), UJT, opto-electronic devices (photoresistors, photodiodes, phototransistors, photovoltaic cells, LEDs, LCDs, opto-couplers). SCR, diac, triac, commutation circuits, DC motor drives, LVDT, induction heating, dielectric heating, integrated circuit technology, SMD.

Power Supply: Voltage regulation (line and load), shunt/series voltage regulators, fixed and variable power supplies, current limiting, foldback limiting, SMPS, UPS (online and offline types).

Module 3: AC Fundamentals, Safety & Batteries (10 Marks)

Generation of AC voltage, equation of voltage, amplitude, frequency, cycle, time period, average value, instantaneous value, RMS value, form factor, peak factor — with problems. AC through resistance, inductance and capacitance. Star and delta connections in 3-phase AC systems — line and phase relationships.

Safety, First Aid, Batteries & Solar Cells: Basic safety requirements, electric shock and its prevention, first aid, installation/care/maintenance of batteries and solar cells, determining total number of cells for a given power requirement.

Module 4: Operational Amplifiers & Oscillators (10 Marks)

Differential amplifier, op-amp parameters, virtual ground, input offset voltage/current, input bias current, CMRR, slew rate. Characteristics of ideal/actual op-amp — inverting, non-inverting amplifier, voltage follower, comparator, difference amplifier, summing amplifier, integrators, differentiators. Zero crossing detector, Schmitt trigger, window detector, log/antilog amplifier, instrumentation amplifier.

DAC/ADC: R-2R ladder DAC, counter type, dual slope integration, successive approximation and flash ADC. Precision rectifiers, active filters (LPF, HPF, BPF), RC phase shift and Wien bridge oscillators, astable/monostable multivibrators, triangular wave generator, PLL (lock range, capture range, applications), VCO, LM566 timer, IC 555 working principle.

Oscillators: Barkhausen criterion, RC oscillators (phase shift, Wien bridge), LC oscillators (Hartley, Colpitts), crystal oscillator. Multivibrators — bistable, monostable, astable (using transistors), triggering methods, Schmitt trigger operation, UTP and LTP.

Module 5: Wiring Accessories & Power Electronics (10 Marks)

Various wiring systems, wires (single strand/multistrand), current ratings. Fuses — cartridge and HRC. Switches — SPST, SPDT, TPTT, ICDP, ICTP, toggle switch, limit switch. Safety devices — MCB, ELCB, RCCB. Electrical illumination. Earthing — pipe and plate earthing.

Power Electronics: Half-wave and full-wave rectifiers with/without filters, UJT relaxation oscillator, FET, JFET, Triac, Diac, IGBT, SCR — operation and maintenance of inverter, regulated DC power supply, battery charger, UPS.

Module 6: Digital Electronics (10 Marks)

Number systems — decimal, binary, hexadecimal, octal conversions, Gray code, BCD code. Boolean algebra, switching and logic levels, Boolean theorems, De Morgan’s theorem. Logic gates — NOT, AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, X-NOR. Half adder, full adder. Flip-flops — RS, gated, JK flip-flops. Counters, shift registers.

Microcontroller basics: 8051 architecture, features, flag registers, general purpose registers.

Logic Families: SSI, MSI, LSI, VLSI, ULSI — positive/negative logic, TTL and Schottky TTL, ECL, CMOS logic family, VIL/VIH/VOL/VOH, noise margin, propagation delay, current sourcing/sinking, fan-in, fan-out, power dissipation.

Semiconductor Memory: ROM and RAM working, static RAM, dynamic RAM, flash ROM, NVRAM, SDRAM, EDO RAM, secondary memory, optical memory, magnetic bubble memory.

Module 7: DC & AC Machines (10 Marks)

DC Generator: Construction, working, classification, EMF equation, wave and lap windings, characteristics — simple problems.

DC Motor: Construction, working, types, EMF equation, torque, starters, speed control, testing, MG set.

AC Machines: Transformer — construction, principle, types, EMF equation, transformation ratio, losses, efficiency, all-day efficiency (simple problems). Three-phase induction motor — principle, construction, types, slip, torque, losses, efficiency, power stages, speed control, starters. Alternators — construction, principle, EMF equation, losses, efficiency. Three-phase synchronous motor. Single-phase and FHP motors — single-phase induction motor, universal motor, AC series motor, servomotor, stepper motor, split-phase motor.

Module 8: Television & Communication Systems (10 Marks)

Television: Luminance, chrominance, compatibility, additive/subtractive colour mixing. Colour TV camera working, Delta gun, Trinitron picture tubes. NTSC, SECAM, PAL systems — advantages/disadvantages. PAL-D coder, frequency interleaving, PAL-D receiver, AFT, colour encoder, colour killer, colour controls. HDTV, digital TV. Satellite TV receiving system — antenna, LNA, LNB, FEC, digital satellite receiver, CCTV, MATV, CATV systems. Video recording — VHS, U-matic, VCD, DVD, MPEG.

Communication Systems: EM waves and propagation. Modulation — AM, FM, phase modulation, AM/FM detection, superheterodyne receiver, bandwidth. PAM, PCM, ASK, FSK, BPSK, QPSK, Offset PSK, BFSK, MSK. Noise in communication systems, SNR improvement methods. Antenna — radiation pattern, point source, gain, directivity, aperture, effective area, beamwidth, radiation resistance. Types — half-wave dipole, folded dipole, Yagi-Uda, Marconi, rhombic, parabolic antennas, antenna arrays (end-fire, broadside).

Module 9: Measurements and Measuring Instruments (10 Marks)

Electrical measuring instruments — voltmeter, ammeter, energy meter, wattmeter, single/three-phase power measurement, measurement of resistance, inductance and capacitance, power factor meter, synchroscope, TOD meter, CRO, insulation megger, earth megger, multimeter, CT and PT.

Electronic Measuring Instruments: Analog and digital meters, Wheatstone bridge, Q meter, CRO, signal generator, recorders, data acquisition systems.

Module 10: Microcontroller (10 Marks)

Features and architecture of 8051 — memory organization, program memory, data memory, internal RAM structure, B register, accumulator, register banks, bit addressable area, special function registers, program status word, flags. Architecture of ports, timer/counter (different modes), serial communication port (different modes), SBUF, interrupts, external ROM/RAM interfacing, addressing modes.

Kerala PSC Draftsman Grade 1 Electrical Exam Pattern 2026

Kerala PSC Draftsman Grade 1 Mechanical Detailed Syllabus 2026

PART I: Questions Based on Diploma in Mechanical Engineering

I. Industrial Management

Principles of Management: Meaning of management, Taylor’s scientific management, functions of management, types of ownership, organizational structure.

Wage Payment System: Types of wages — nominal, real, living, fair, minimum wages; incentives.

Quality Planning: Definitions of quality, dimensions of quality, TQM concept.

Project Management Techniques: Network analysis, terms used in CPM and PERT, EFT, LFT, critical path, event, slack/float, dummy activity, network diagram construction and numbering, Fulkerson’s rule, simple CPM problems (AOA method), PERT — comparison with CPM, expected time calculation, event/activity/successor/predecessor terms, earliest expected time, latest allowable time, slack.

Quantitative Techniques: Linear programming — formulation of LPP, transportation problem (North West corner rule, Vogel’s approximation method), simple problems. Game theory — two-person zero-sum game, maximin/minimax principle, saddle point.

Materials and Sales Management: Inventory management — definition, classification, purchase procedure, buying techniques, EOQ, ABC analysis. Stores management — store keeping functions, duties of storekeeper, store layout, centralized/decentralized store, store records, indent forms, bin card, store ledger. Sales — importance, functions, sales forecasting.

II. Industrial Engineering

Production Planning and Control: Concepts of industry, production and productivity, methods of increasing productivity, types of production (job, batch, mass, continuous), PPC benefits and functions, pre-planning activities (forecasting, plant location, product planning, design and development, material selection).

Process Planning: Determination of men, machines, material and tool requirements, choice of machine, break-even analysis, process sheet, process planning procedure. Routing, scheduling, dispatching, value engineering. Plant location and layout — factors in plant location, types of layouts, advantages/disadvantages. Plant maintenance — types.

Method Study: Work study — advantages and applications. Therbligs and symbols, process chart symbols, operation process chart, flow process chart, man-machine chart, right hand-left hand chart, simo chart, flow diagram, principles of motion economy, work place layout, material handling. Work measurement objectives, stopwatch time study, standard time calculation, production study, work sampling.

Inspection and Quality Control: Concepts of quality control, product control, types of inspection (first piece, working, sample, operation, key operation, floor/patrolling, centralized), advantages and limitations.

Fundamental Statistical Concepts: Variability in measurements, variable, attribute, frequency, frequency distribution, frequency plot, normal distribution curve, tally sheet, mean, mode, median, standard deviation calculation. Statistical quality control — control charts (X, R, P, 100P, C).

Project Analysis: Need and scope, constituent elements — production cost, market survey, selling price, capital investment, return on investment, elements of costing, classification of costs, depreciation types, obsolescence. Machining time calculation for turning, drilling, shaping — simple problems.

III. Metallurgy and Machine Tools

1. Material Science:
Metals and alloys — structure of materials, crystal structure (BCC, FCC, HCP), ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Cast iron — white, malleable, grey, nodular. Pig iron manufacture (blast furnace), cast iron manufacture (cupola furnace). Types and manufacture of steel — Bessemer process, LD process, open hearth, electric furnace. Steel alloys, non-ferrous metals — aluminium, copper and alloys, crucible furnace.

Heat Treatment: Cooling curve for pure iron, iron-carbon equilibrium diagram, TTT diagram, micro-constituents of steel. Heat treatment processes — annealing, normalizing, hardening, tempering, martempering, austempering, case hardening (cyaniding, nitriding, carburising), age hardening, induction hardening, flame hardening, residual stress.

Properties, Testing & Inspection: Mechanical properties (strength, hardness, toughness, brittleness, creep, fatigue, stiffness, ductility, malleability, elasticity, plasticity). Thermal properties (specific heat, thermal conductivity/resistance/diffusivity). Destructive testing — tensile, compressive, hardness, impact, fatigue, creep tests. Non-destructive testing — radiographic, ultrasonic, spark test, magnetic particle, X-ray, dye penetration.

2. Manufacturing Process:
Measuring instruments, gauges and comparators — vernier caliper, micrometer, plug/ring/snap/screw pitch/feeler/wire gauges, mechanical/electrical/optical/pneumatic comparators.

Welding, Soldering, Brazing: Arc welding principle, positions, welded joint types, electrode selection and coatings. Gas welding — flame types, oxy-acetylene equipment. Submerged arc, TIG, MIG, atomic hydrogen, thermit welding. Welding defects — porosity, poor penetration, warping, undercut, distortion, cracks. Soldering and brazing.

Foundry: Tools (rammer, trowel, slick, lifter, strike-off bar, bellow, sprue pin, mallet, gate cutter, swab, vent rod, draw spike, moulding box). Moulding sand composition and types (green, dry, parting, loam, facing, core sand), sand properties. Pattern types and allowances (shrinkage, draft, machining, distortion, rapping).

Bench Work and Fitting: Fitting operations (chipping, filing, scraping, grinding, sawing, marking, drilling, reaming, tapping, dieing). Tools — vices, files, chisels, hammers, hacksaw, scrapers, punches, surface plate/gauge, V-block, angle plate, try square, combination set, steel rule, calipers, divider, scriber, drills, reamer, tap and die.

3. Machine Tools:
Metal cutting — orthogonal/oblique cutting, chip formation, cutting speed, feed, depth of cut, tool life, machinability.

Lathe — types, parts and functions, accessories, work/tool holding devices, speed/feed/depth of cut, taper turning methods, lathe specification.

Drilling machines — classification, work holding devices, drill bit types, operations. Shaping, slotting, planing machines — general use, parts and functions. Milling machines — types, cutter holding devices, milling operations (plain milling, keyways, gang milling, T-slot milling), conventional vs climb milling, indexing types. Broaching machines. Gear manufacture — hobbing. Jigs and fixtures — definitions.

Grinding — abrasives (natural, artificial), bonding materials, grinding wheel specifications, cylindrical grinders (centre type, centreless type). Capstan and turret lathe — construction, tooling layout. Automatic and copying machines, flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) — components. Robots and robotics — elements, joint types, robotic arms/hands. CNC machine tools — brief description.

IV. Fluid Mechanics, Pneumatics and Hydraulic Machines

1. Fluid Mechanics and Pneumatics:
Properties of fluids — density, specific weight, specific volume, specific gravity, viscosity, kinematic viscosity, Newton’s law of viscosity, compressibility, surface tension, capillarity.

Fluid pressure and measurement — pressure at a point, pressure head, Pascal’s law, absolute/gauge/atmospheric/vacuum pressure, piezometer tube, simple/differential/inverted differential manometer, Bourdon’s tube gauge, total pressure.

Kinematics and dynamics of fluid flow — types of flow (steady/unsteady, uniform/non-uniform, laminar/turbulent, compressible/incompressible, rotational/irrotational), rate of flow, equation of continuity, energy of liquid in motion (potential, kinetic, pressure, total), Bernoulli’s equation and applications, venturimeter, orifice meter, pitot tube.

Flow through orifices, notches, pipes and nozzles — vena contracta, coefficients of contraction/velocity/discharge, notch types, losses in pipes (major and minor), Darcy’s and Chezy’s formulae, sudden enlargement/contraction losses, water hammer, nozzles.

Fluid power — basic laws and applications. Hydraulic system — elements, oil reservoir, pump unit, positive displacement pump types (gear, screw, vane, lobe, piston pumps). Control elements — pressure control valves (relief, poppet), direction control valves, check valves, flow control valves (gate, globe, butterfly, non-return).

Pneumatic system — comparison with hydraulic system, standard symbols, air filter, pressure regulator, lubricator, mufflers, pneumatic control valves, air cylinders.

2. Hydraulic Machines:
Impact of jets — force on stationary/vertical/inclined/curved plates, moving plates. Impulse turbines — Pelton wheel components. Reaction turbines — Francis, Kaplan turbines, draft tubes, specific speed. Centrifugal pumps — casing types, piping system, work done, manometric head, efficiencies, multistage pumps, cavitation, priming. Reciprocating pumps — types, comparison with centrifugal pumps, discharge, slip, air vessels, hydraulic ram.

V. Applied Mechanics, Strength of Materials and Design of Machine Elements

1. Applied Mechanics & Strength of Materials (5 Marks):
Direct stresses and strains — tensile/compressive, longitudinal/lateral strain, Poisson’s ratio, stress-strain diagram for mild steel, limit of proportionality, elastic limit, yield point, ultimate stress, working stress, factor of safety, Hooke’s law, Young’s modulus, principle of superposition, stresses in varying/composite sections.

Shear stress and strain — modulus of rigidity, volumetric strain, bulk modulus. Thermal stress and strain — stresses due to temperature change, composite bars.

Truss analysis — types of frames, redundancy, free body diagram, equilibrium, method of joints and sections. Friction — types, laws, angle/coefficient of friction, cone of friction.

Centre of gravity and moment of inertia of sections — centroids, axis of symmetry, common geometric sections, radius of gyration.

Riveted joints — lap and butt joints, failure modes (shearing, crushing, tearing), strength and efficiency, caulking and fullering. Welded joints — terminology, strength.

Thin cylinders — hoop stress, longitudinal stress. Torsion of circular shafts — torsion equation, solid/hollow shaft strength, power equation, polar moment of inertia. Springs — leaf springs, helical springs.

Shear force and bending moment — beam types (cantilever, simply supported, overhanging, fixed, continuous), loading types, SFD/BMD for cantilever and simply supported beams, maximum bending moment, deflection of beams. Columns and struts — buckling load, equivalent length, slenderness ratio, column types.

2. Machine Drawing and Design of Machine Elements:
Screw threads — terminology, forms (square, V-thread), Whitworth, BA, American standard, Acme, ISO metric threads, single/multi-start, right/left-hand threads, bolted connections.

Welded joints and piping layout — weld classification, welding symbols, pipe types, pipe joints, orthographic symbols for fittings and valves.

Limits, fits and tolerances — definitions. Surface roughness — terminology, values, grades, symbols.

General design considerations — design stress, working stress, factor of safety, kinematic link/pair/chain, four-bar chain, mechanisms, inversion.

Bolts, nuts and keys — screw thread designation, stresses due to static/external loading, bolts of uniform strength, key types, sunk key design.

Shafts — torsional stress/strain, solid/hollow shaft strength and rigidity, power transmission. Couplings — requirements, types. Bearings — functions, classification (radial, thrust, sliding contact, rolling contact).

Cams — follower and cam classification, motion types (uniform velocity, SHM, uniform acceleration/retardation), cam terminology, displacement diagrams.

Governors and flywheels — functions, types (Watt governor, Porter governor), comparison, coefficient of fluctuation of speed/energy.

Belt drives — types (flat, circular/rope, V-belt), open/crossed/compound belt drive, stepped/cone pulley drive, velocity ratio, slip, creep.

Gears and gear trains — functions, friction wheels, spur gear nomenclature, simple gear drive, velocity ratio, simple and compound gear trains.

VI. Thermal Engineering

Air standard cycles — assumptions, air standard efficiency of Carnot, Otto, Diesel, dual combustion cycles. Fuels and combustion — classification, merits/demerits, requirements of a good fuel, calorific value, combustion.

Testing of IC engines — indicated power, brake power, friction power, mechanical/indicated thermal/brake thermal/relative efficiency, fuel consumption, Morse test, heat balance sheet.

Heat transfer — conduction, convection, radiation, Fourier’s law, thermal conductivity, plane/composite wall conduction, black body concept, Stefan-Boltzmann law, Newton-Rikhman equation, free/forced convection.

Heat exchangers — classification (recuperator, regenerative, parallel/counter/cross flow), overall heat transfer coefficient, LMTD.

Air compressors — construction, working, classification, reciprocating (single/two stage), rotary compressors, fans and blowers, centrifugal and axial flow compressors, mechanical/volumetric efficiency.

IC engine systems — fuel systems, carburetion, diesel fuel system, fuel filter, injector/injection nozzle, ignition system, cooling system, radiators, lubrication system, governing systems (quantity, quality, hit and miss).

Refrigeration — definition, C.O.P, unit of refrigeration, reversed Carnot cycle, applications. Vapour compression refrigeration — principle, working, C.O.P. Refrigeration equipment — compressors, condensers, evaporators, expansion devices (capillary tube, thermostatic expansion valve). Refrigerants — primary/secondary, desirable properties.

Psychrometry — dry/moist/saturated/unsaturated air, degree of saturation, DBT, WBT, dew point temperature. Psychrometric processes — sensible heating/cooling, humidifying, dehumidifying.

Air conditioning — definition, human comfort factors, effective temperature, classification (industrial, comfort), summer/winter/year-round air conditioning systems.

PART II: Questions Based on Engineering Mathematics

1. Matrices — Identification of matrices, matrix operations, adjoint and inverse.
2. Determinants — Evaluation of second and third order, minors and cofactors, solving simultaneous linear equations in three unknowns using Cramer’s rule.
3. Binomial Series — Expansions using the Binomial theorem.
4. Trigonometric Functions — Signs of functions in each quadrant, trigonometric values of angles, properties, applications of sin(A±B), cos(A±B), tan(A±B).
5. Coordinate Geometry — Equations of a straight line (slope-intercept form, intercept form), angle between two lines, conditions for perpendicularity/parallelism.
6. Differentiation — Limits and continuity, derivatives of functions, tangents and normals, maxima and minima of functions of one variable.
7. Integration — Integration of different types of functions.
8. Applications of Integration — Area bounded by a curve and X/Y axis, solving differential equations by variable separable method, first-order linear differential equations.

Kerala PSC Draftsman Grade 1 Mechanical Exam Pattern 2026