Structural Calculators
A set of free calculators for preliminary structural steel design to AISC 360, covering everything from combining loads through to member sizing, connection design, and fire protection. Several tools can pass values straight through to the next one in your workflow via "Continue with these values" links, so you don't have to re-enter the same numbers twice.
Standards used across these tools: ANSI/AISC 360 (Specification for Structural Steel Buildings) · ASCE/SEI 7 (Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria) · AISC 341 (Seismic Provisions, where applicable) · ASTM A992 / A36 (structural steel material properties).
These tools provide preliminary, indicative results only, intended to assist with initial sizing and understanding. They are not a substitute for assessment by a qualified structural engineer. Always have final designs checked and signed off by a suitably qualified and experienced structural engineer before construction.
1. Loads & Sizing
Start here - work out your design loads and get a rough first size before checking a real section.
2. Member Design
Check an actual section's properties, classification, and capacity in bending, shear, or compression.
Section Property
Geometric properties (Area, I, S, Z, r) for a custom symmetric W-shape section.
Section Classification
Classify a section (Compact/Noncompact/Slender) under bending and/or compression, per AISC 360 Table B4.1.
Beam Analysis
Check bending, shear, and deflection for a simply supported or cantilever beam.
Column Buckling & Torsion
Check cross-section compression and flexural buckling resistance for a column.
3. Connections
Size the joints that hold your members together - base plates, bolts, and welds.
4. Fire Protection
Get the W/D ratio your fire protection supplier needs to select a coating or board thickness.
All calculators on this page provide preliminary, indicative structural calculations only, intended to assist with initial sizing and understanding. They are not a substitute for assessment by a qualified structural engineer, and cad-steel.com accepts no responsibility for their use in any final design.