Loading Diagram

The loading diagram is perfect for all of those teachers that wanted to see a free body diagram.  The loading diagram is a visual representation of the loading on the beam being designed.  Below the loading diagram there is also a summary of the various loads on the beam.  This is available in any of the beam design modules, but excludes the footing and column design modules.

The loading diagram above shows all of the different loads available:

• point loads (in green)
• uniform loads (shown on the center span)

Flitch beams are available options to design with in each of the following StruCalc  modules:

• Uniformly Loaded Floor Beam
• Roof Beam
• Combination Roof And Floor Beam
• Multi-Loaded Multi-Span Beam
• Multi-Span Floor Beam
• Multi-Span Roof Beam

StruCalc gives the option of designing a flitch beam with either solid sawn lumber or structural composite lumber.  Switching to the flitch beam option is as easy as switching to design with glulams or solid sawn beams.

First select either a Solid Sawn or Structural Composite flitch beam from the material drop down menu:

StruCalc’s footing design module allows for the design of square, rectangular and/or continuous footings.  The footing module will provide size and reinforcement requirements for any concrete footing loaded with pure vertical load.  After a footing type has been specified StruCalc will then want to know what is providing the load; this will mean specifying the column type for the square or rectangular footing, or the stemwall type for the continuous footing.

Here you can see the load selection criteria for square and rectangular footings:

And here you can see selecting a continuous footing allows for selecting the stemwall type and weight in pcf:

The column module in StruCalc is set up to design most posts in residential or light commercial projects.  The program first asks the user to specify the type of column to be designed. There are five different types of materials available in the column module:

• solid sawn
• glulam
• structural composite
• steel
• tube steel

Each of these materials then has selections from the current National Design Specification in use for species, grade, width and depth.

Within the column module of StruCalc there is the ability to calculate a cantilevered column. 

The column module typically assumes a pin-pin connection for the end supports, but the end condition can be changed to a cantilever inside the module.  Once a cantilever has been designated by selecting the Cantilever Column checkbox the Column End Condition or K(e) value will change from 1 to 2.1 and the top of the column will then be unrestrained.

This is particularly useful for posts that are supporting lateral loads of some kind such as:

• pole barn supports
• car port supports

Within StruCalc is the hip/valley beam portion of the roof beam module.  Our users can easily determine the size of a hip or valley beam by entering the span length and the pitch of the two roofs that are coming together. StruCalc will then determine the slope adjusted actual length of the beam, behind the scenes StruCalc also calculates the loading that the beam feels, and the size of the member. These are then viewable in the print outs.

Below is an actual representation of a hip beam in a construction view before inputting the design into StruCalc: