About Us
Our mission is to make elegant, powerful structural engineering software.
Finish your projects faster with WebStructural. Our free cloud-based steel and wood beam design app has everything you need to design common structural beams.
Use the free version as much as you like. If you need to save and print your designs, try our paid version for $19 / month.
About our Software
Beam Calculator
Our Free Beam Calculator uses Euler-Bernoulli beam theory to calculate deflection, slope, moment and shear in simply supported and fixed beams. The Euler-Bernoulli equation describes a relationship between beam deflection and applied external forces. The simplest form of this equation is as follows:
EI(d4w/dx4) = q(x)
The Shear Force and Moment can be expressed, respectively, as:
Q = -EI(d3w/dx3), M = -EI(d2w/dx2)
Beam Moment and Shear Force Calculator
We use these equations along with the boundary conditions and forces (loads) to derive closed-form solutions to various simply supported and cantilevered beams. The beam calculator uses these equations to generate bending moment, shear force, slope and defelction diagrams.
The beam calculator is a great tool to quickly validate forces in beams. Use it to help you design steel, wood and concrete beams under various loading conditions. And don't forget, you can add results from beams together using the method of superposition.
Multi-span Beam Calculator - Shear and Moment Diagrams
Of course, it is not always possible (or practical) to derive a closed-form solution for some beam configurations. If you have a steel, wood or concrete beam with complex boundary conditions and loads you're better off solving the problem numerically with one of our finite element analysis tools. If you're not worried about design codes and comparing beam demand and beam capacity, try out our easy to use Shear & Moment Calculator.
This calculator uses the finite element analysis method to calculate displacements, forces and reactions in multi span beams with multiple loads. The finite element analysis (FEA) method relies on Hook's law to find a highly accurate approximate solution to the beam. The model is discretized into small elements and a spring constant is established for each element. Forces (loads) are applied to the springs, a stiffness matrix (k) is generated from the small elements and the displacements are found by inverting the stiffness matrix and multiplying it by the force vector. Recall Hook's law for springs:
F = kx
We extend this to 2 and 3 dimensions using linear algebra:
|F| = [k]|x|
Free AISC 360-16 Steel and 2018 NDS Wood Beam Design
And it gets even better! If you need to analyze and design a steel or wood beam, use our free Steel and Wood Beam Designer. This tool has everything you need to perform comprehensive design checks on steel and wood beams. Use this tool to determine the right size beam for any project. We provide a feature-rich version of this tool for free. There's nothing to install, simply navigate to the Steel and Wood Beam Designer App and start designing! If you like the tool and decide you'd like to save and print projects you can upgrade for $19 monthly. There's no long-term contract. Cancel anytime, we'll save your projects and you can resubscribe later to access them.
All Software
We make elegant, powerful structural engineering and structural analysis software. Try some of our other free tools: