Structural Calculators
A set of free calculators for preliminary structural steel design to CSA S16, 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: CSA S16 (Design of Steel Structures) · CSA A23.3 (Design of Concrete Structures) · CSA W59 (Welded Steel Construction) · NBCC 2020 (National Building Code of Canada, Division B, Part 4 — Structural Design) · CSA G40.21 (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 (Class 1-4) under bending and/or compression, per CSA S16 Table 2.
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.
Base Plate Connection
Check bearing pressure, plate thickness, and anchor bolt shear for a column base.
Bolted Connections
Check shear, bearing, tension, and combined resistance for a single structural bolt (ASTM F3125M A325M/A490M).
Fillet Welds
Check a fillet weld's design resistance using CSA W59.
4. Fire Protection
Get the section factor 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 ca.cad-steel.com accepts no responsibility for their use in any final design.