- General
Structural Engineering Software & Resource Directory
The reference library for residential and light-frame wood structural engineering: the NDS, NDS Supplement, SDPWS, ASCE 7-22 and the IBC/IRC span chapters with free-access links; TJI specifier's guides and evaluation reports; Simpson Strong-Tie catalogs; wood design software compared side by side (StructSuite, US WoodWorks, ENERCALC, RISA, SkyCiv, and more); plus free span calculators and learning channels. Every entry is annotated by what it's for, with comparison tables to pick the right tool for the job.
Read guide - Wood & Steel Beam
Wood Design with the NDS Supplement and Engineered Wood Products (LVL, LSL, PSL): A Practical Guide
A 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 E_min, 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.
Read guide - How StructSuite Works
How StructSuite Works: The Engineering Assumptions Behind Every Number
Every assumption, code interpretation, and deliberate limitation inside StructSuite, explained engineer-to-engineer: why blank inputs stop the calculation instead of assuming defaults, which NDS Supplement tables and manufactured wood products are implemented (and which are not, and why), how the IBC rafter tables' footnotes and span definition are honored, what the seismic module assumes about building height and mass, and how the retaining wall module scopes Mononobe-Okabe and Seed-Whitman to FEMA P-750 RP 12.
Read guide - Seismic Loads
How to Calculate Seismic Base Shear — ASCE 7-22 ELF Procedure
A complete textbook-style worked example of the ASCE 7-22 equivalent lateral force (ELF) procedure for a two-story gable-roof wood-frame house with an attic: the seismic weight takeoff (sloped roof + ceiling), SDS and SD1, Seismic Design Category from Tables 11.6-1 and 11.6-2, R and Ω0 from Table 12.2-1, approximate period Ta, Cs, base shear V, story forces Fx, overturning, and diaphragm forces Fpx — every number verified against StructSuite, with parameter-selection guidance and sensitivity checks.
Read guide - Wind Loads
How to Calculate Wind Loads — Directional Procedure (ASCE 7-22 Chapter 27)
A complete MWFRS wind load worked example per ASCE 7-22 Chapter 27: velocity pressure qz and Kz (Eq. 26.10-1), external pressure coefficients Cp for walls and a gable roof, design pressures p with Kd and GCpi (Eq. 27.3-1), base shear in both directions, the minimum design wind load, and the four design wind load cases of Figure 27.3-8 — every number verified against StructSuite.
Read guide - Wind Loads
How to Calculate Wind Loads — Envelope Procedure (ASCE 7-22 Chapter 28)
A complete MWFRS envelope method worked example per ASCE 7-22 Chapter 28 for a 60×30 ft suburban house: velocity pressure qh with the Exposure B footnote, interpolated GCpf zones and areas for Load Cases 1–4, internal pressure, base shear and uplift per case, and the §28.3.6 minimum design wind load — every number verified against StructSuite.
Read guide - Wood & Steel Beam
Beam Design Formulas with Shear and Moment Diagrams — All 32 Cases, Worked and Verified
Every 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.
Read guide - Wood & Steel Beam
How to Design a Glulam Beam — Cantilever Balcony (NDS 2024)
A complete worked design example for a 5.125×12 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.
Read guide - Wood & Steel Beam
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.
Read guide - Wood & Steel Column
How to Design a Wood Column — Tall Wall with Wind (NDS 2024)
A complete worked design example for an 8×10 Douglas Fir-Larch No. 2 timber column in a 22-ft exterior wall carrying roof gravity load plus wind pressure on its 8-ft wall bay: the C&C wind takeoff, ASD combinations with per-combination CD, the two slenderness ratios a rectangular column has and the different jobs they do, the column stability factor CP, the NDS 2024 §3.9.2 interaction check (Eq. 3.9-3) with the FcE1 buckling gate, wall deflection limits, and bearing on the sill — every number produced by StructSuite's engine and locked by a regression test.
Read guide - Wood-Frame Shear Wall
How to Design a Wood Shear Wall — A Complete Step-by-Step Guide (SDPWS 2021 & ASCE 7-22)
The complete method for designing wood-frame shear walls, worked end to end on a real single-story building: distributing the story force to wall lines (and why wind and seismic split differently), Table 4.3A sheathing capacity with the 2.0/2.8 ASD factors, aspect-ratio penalties, a first trial that FAILS and the three levers that fix it, hold-downs, end posts, anchor bolts and framing clips per NDS Table 12E and SDPWS 4.3.6.4 — every formula shown with substituted numbers, every value produced by the StructSuite engine and locked by regression tests.
Read guide - Retaining Wall
How to Design a Retaining Wall — A Complete Step-by-Step Guide (ACI 318-25 & IBC 2024)
The complete method for designing a cantilever concrete retaining wall, worked end to end on a 12 ft wall: how to proportion it, where every soil number comes from, the four failure modes, overturning and sliding safety factors per IBC 2024 §1807.2.3, kern-aware bearing, and the full ACI 318-25 strength design of stem, heel, toe and shear key — including a first trial that FAILS sliding, the three levers that fix it, the drainage and construction details that decide whether any of it is true, and the full Seismic Design Category D treatment — the ΔP_AE increment, its RP 12 provenance, the FS ≥ 1.1 stability checks and the ASCE 7-22 §2.3.6 strength combinations. Every number produced by the StructSuite engine and locked by a regression test.
Read guide
Structural Engineering Guides & Worked Examples
Practical, code-referenced structural engineering guides and fully worked design examples from StructSuite — wood design (NDS), loads (ASCE 7), concrete (ACI 318), and shear walls (SDPWS), written to help engineers understand the why behind the numbers.