Wood & Steel Beam module
Free Wood Beam Calculator — NDS 2024, with Steel Beams per AISC 360-22
Design wood beams per NDS 2024 — sawn lumber, glulam, I-joists (TJI, BCI, LPI), LVL, LSL, and PSL — or steel beams per AISC 360-22 (LRFD) with W-shapes, rectangular/square and round HSS, and pipe from the AISC Shapes Database. Build the load case from ASCE 7-22 load types (D, L, Lr, S, W, E, etc.) with uniform, point, and triangular/trapezoidal loads over single- or multi-support spans; checks moment, shear, deflection and bearing — with the NDS adjustment factors for wood and compactness/lateral-torsional buckling per AISC Chapter F for steel. Switch between the wood and steel design of the same beam to compare sizes on screen.
Free to use with no sign-up: the calculator runs in full in the browser with no account, no trial and no feature limits, and the full detailed calculation is shown on screen, step by step, with the code sections and tables it draws on, so it can be checked by hand. A free account keeps one project in the cloud; unlimited cloud projects and printing the report to PDF are Pro features.
What the calculator includes
- Single-span or continuous multi-span beams with pinned, roller, fixed or free supports (cantilevers and overhangs), sloped members entered as a pitch or an angle, and loads as uniform, partial, triangular or trapezoidal, point or applied moment, upward loads included.
- Sawn lumber from NDS 2024 Supplement Tables 4A, 4B and 4D and glulam from Tables 5A and 5B, rendered in the code's own layout; I-joists (TJI, BCI, LPI), LVL, LSL and PSL from the manufacturer's ICC-ES evaluation report, with the report number linked.
- An in-browser finite-element solver pinned to all 32 AWC Design Aid No. 6 beam cases by a regression test, every ASCE 7-22 ASD combination run at its own load-duration factor CD, and pattern live loading per §4.3.3 on multi-span beams.
- Flexure, shear, live and total deflection against the IBC Table 1604.3 limit presets with creep, and bearing at each support, with Cb where NDS §3.10.4 allows it; glulam checked for sagging and hogging against Fbx+ and Fbx−, I-joists against published MR and VR with the shear-deflection term.
- Optional Simpson Strong-Tie hanger selection at a supported end (pinned or roller; interior supports excluded): the governing ASD reaction and its load-duration class go to the Hanger Selector, and the chosen hanger's download and uplift allowables are checked against them.
- Loading, shear, moment and deflection diagrams for every load case and every ASCE 7-22 load combination, with a cursor readout and the case that governs flexure, shear, bearing or deflection flagged.
- The §12.4.4 cantilever uplift combination for Seismic Design Category D to F and the overstrength combinations with Emh = Ω0·QE for a beam under a discontinuous wall, each offered only when the beam calls for it.
- Every adjustment factor tagged calculated or input per NDS Table 4.3.1, the CD of every combination tabulated with the one that governs flexure and shear marked, a live RB ≤ 50 check under the unbraced-length field, and the Supplement footnotes applied and shown.
- Steel beams from the AISC Shapes Database — W-shapes, rectangular, square and round HSS and pipe — checked for compactness and lateral-torsional buckling per AISC 360-22 Chapter F, with bearing at the support per §J10.
In every StructSuite module
- The code clause behind a value is quoted verbatim beside it from a blue book icon — NDS 2024, SDPWS 2021, AISC 360-22, ACI 318-25, ASCE 7-22 and the 2024 IBC, FEMA P-750 and the I-joist manufacturer's technical bulletins — so the standard does not have to be opened to check it.
- A missing input stops the calculation rather than being filled in silently, and judgment choices start unselected.
- Where a limit applies it is checked as you type: beam RB and column ℓe/d, steel Lc/r, rebar ratios and spacing, fy and f′c.
- Every module prints into one calculation report (Pro) with a cover sheet, a table of contents with measured page numbers and a verification link a plan checker opens without an account.
StructSuite is an independent product and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc. or any other manufacturer named here. Simpson Strong-Tie®, DTT, HDUE, SABR, Trus Joist®, TJI®, BCI®, LPI, Microllam®, Parallam®, TimberStrand® and Versa-Lam® are trademarks of their respective owners, used only to identify supported products and design-value sources.
Worked examples and guides for this module
- Wood Design with the NDS Supplement and Engineered Wood Products (LVL, LSL, PSL): A Practical GuideA practical, plain-English guide to the NDS 2024 Supplement for engineers new to wood design: how lumber is sized (nominal vs dressed, S4S), section property tables 1A–1D, reference design values for sawn lumber (4A–4G) and glued laminated timber (5A–5D), round timber 6A–6B, the difference between E and Emin, the equivalent-square method for round columns, how to go from reference values to adjusted design capacities, and how engineered wood products (LVL, LSL, PSL) extend beyond the Supplement using each manufacturer's ICC-ES values.
- Beam Design Formulas with Shear and Moment Diagrams — All 32 Cases, Worked and VerifiedEvery classic beam case from AWC Design Aid No. 6 — simple, cantilever, propped, overhanging, fixed-fixed, and two-span continuous — drawn with its shear and moment diagrams, its full formula set, and the SAME 16-ft beam run through each one, so you can see exactly how support conditions and load type change moment, shear, and deflection. Every closed-form value is checked against StructSuite's finite-element beam engine, with the difference printed.
- How to Design a Glulam Beam — Cantilever Balcony (NDS 2024)A complete worked design example for a 5.125×13.5 24F-1.8E Douglas Fir glulam beam with a 16-ft back span and a 6-ft balcony cantilever: tributary loads, the guardrail end moment, shear and moment diagrams with a sign reversal, the volume factor CV, positive and negative flexure checks against Fbx+ and Fbx−, shear, deflection, and bearing by Allowable Stress Design per NDS 2024 — verified against StructSuite and locked by a regression test.
- How to Size a Hip Rafter — 6:12 Hip Roof (NDS 2024)A complete worked design example for a 6×12 Douglas Fir-Larch No. 2 hip rafter on a 6:12 hip roof: why the hip's own pitch is 4.24:12 and not 6:12, why its tributary load is a triangle, how dead load measured along the slope converts to the horizontal projection while roof live load does not, and the full ASD check chain — flexure, shear, deflection, and bearing per NDS 2024 — every number verified against StructSuite and locked by a regression test.
Each guide works the method end to end on the numbers the engine produces. The sample calculation report (PDF) is a complete StructSuite report printed from the sample project — open it without an account.
Frequently asked questions
Which beam materials can it design?
Wood per NDS 2024 — sawn lumber, glulam, I-joists (TJI, BCI, LPI), LVL, LSL and PSL with the NDS adjustment factors — or steel per AISC 360-22 LRFD with W-shapes, rectangular, square and round HSS, and pipe from the AISC Shapes Database, including compactness and lateral-torsional buckling per Chapter F. The same beam can be switched between wood and steel to compare sizes.
What loads and spans does it accept?
ASCE 7-22 load types (D, L, Lr, S, W, E and more) as uniform, point and triangular or trapezoidal loads, over single- or multi-support spans, checked for moment, shear and deflection.
Which NDS adjustment factors does it apply?
Load duration CD, wet service CM and temperature Ct for every product; beam stability CL for sawn lumber, glulam and structural composite lumber; size CF, incising Ci and repetitive member Cr for sawn lumber; and the volume factor CV for glulam and structural composite lumber. I-joists are checked against the manufacturer's published moment and shear capacities instead. Each factor is listed with the value it took and the NDS 2024 section it comes from, so the adjusted design values can be checked by hand. Bearing at the supports is an optional check, added by entering a bearing length.
Is the wood & steel beam calculator free?
Yes. Free to use with no sign-up: the calculator runs in full in the browser with no account, no trial and no feature limits, and the full detailed calculation is shown on screen, step by step, with the code sections and tables it draws on, so it can be checked by hand. A free account keeps one project in the cloud; unlimited cloud projects and printing the report to PDF are Pro features.