Application guide
SteelCalc
Steel element design.
What this tool does
Steel element design. This guide describes the main workflow, key information and stated limits to review when using the tool.
Application version: v1.6.
Run a member check
- Choose a section from the built-in section-properties helper or enter a custom section and material properties.
- Enter the member length, support/restraint conditions and the design actions used by the selected check route.
- Review the section classification and effective-length assumptions shown by the app. Adjust the input to match the actual restraint and bracing arrangement.
- Run the check and read the reported utilisation and governing action. Use the report preview to capture the inputs, assumptions and results.
- Repeat for the relevant load combinations and confirm the member and its connections separately.
Section and calculation features
- The section helper covers BS 4 serial sizes for UB, UC, joists, RHS, SHS and CHS, and shows the stored designation notes. Plastic moduli and shear areas are calculated from the plate rectangles. Root radii are not stored, and the calculated torsion and warping constants are not used in the lateral-torsional check.
- The member check uses both axes. Strut curves and Perry factors follow the slenderness, the section is classified, and shear can reduce the moment capacity. Open sections use the Annex B lateral-torsional route with u = 0.9 for rolled sections and u = 1.0 for welded sections. Closed sections take the buckling resistance moment as the moment capacity, and a deep RHS asks for a Table 15 confirmation.
- Design strength follows the selected grade and the thickest element. A file saved by v1.5 still opens. Its old constant Perry factors are cleared and the section properties are recalculated. The long-form sheet can be copied or printed.
Check the design basis
SteelCalc is a simplified formula-route design aid, not an automatic substitute for a full code design. Verify section classification, effective lengths, lateral-torsional buckling assumptions, second-order effects, local resistance, serviceability, connections and the relevant standard independently. Custom hollow-section formulae use idealised sharp-corner geometry; catalogue coverage is not universal.