Verification
The numbers, beside the answers AISC published.
A steel design program has to show its work. Here StruTrix Studio's results stand next to the answers printed in the AISC Design Examples and the AISC 360-22 Commentary, measured on the code of the released version, 1.105. The program is free, so you can model any of these and check them yourself.
- 46 of 46Strengths from the AISC Design Examples within 1.35%; 43 of them within 1%.
- 0.37%The largest difference from the Commentary's second-order benchmarks, which ask for 3% in moment and 5% in deflection.
- 1,700+Automated tests, repeated with every build.
AISC Design Examples
Steel member strengths.
The strength AISC printed for each example, and the strength StruTrix Studio works for the same member, lengths and steel, by LRFD and by ASD.
| Example and member | Quantity | LRFD, AISC | LRFD, StruTrix Studio | ASD, AISC | ASD, StruTrix Studio | Largest difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tension (yielding) | ||||||
| D.1W8X21 | Pn, kips | 277 | 277.2 | 184 | 184.4 | 0.23% |
| Compression | ||||||
| E.1CW14X132, 30 ft | Pn, kips | 892 | 892.6 | 598 | 593.9 | 0.69% |
| E.1DW14X90, 30 ft and 15 ft | Pn, kips | 927 | 927.5 | 617 | 617.1 | 0.05% |
| E.7WT7X34, 20 ft | Pn, kips | 128 | 127.9 | 85.0 | 85.07 | 0.11% |
| E.9HSS12X10X3/8 | Pn, kips | 518 | 517.8 | 344 | 344.5 | 0.15% |
| E.11Pipe10STD | Pn, kips | 221 | 218.6 | 147 | 145.4 | 1.09% |
| Flexure | ||||||
| F.1-3BW18X50, 35 ft, braced at midspan | Mn, kip-ft | 288 | 287.9 | 192 | 191.6 | 0.23% |
| F.7AHSS10X6X3/16 | Mn, kip-ft | 57.0 | 56.99 | 37.9 | 37.92 | 0.04% |
| F.8AHSS8X8X3/16 | Mn, kip-ft | 43.3 | 43.31 | 28.8 | 28.82 | 0.06% |
| F.9APipe8XS | Mn, kip-ft | 81.4 | 81.38 | 54.1 | 54.14 | 0.08% |
| Shear | ||||||
| G.1AW24X62 | Vn, kips | 306 | 305.7 | 204 | 203.8 | 0.09% |
| G.2AC15X33.9 | Vn, kips | 117 | 116.6 | 77.6 | 77.60 | 0.31% |
| G.3L5X3X1/4 | Vn, kips | 24.3 | 24.30 | 16.2 | 16.17 | 0.20% |
| G.4HSS6X4X3/8 | Vn, kips | 86.0 | 85.88 | 57.2 | 57.14 | 0.14% |
| G.5HSS16.000X0.375 | Vn, kips | 195 | 195.0 | 130 | 129.8 | 0.17% |
| G.6W21X48, weak axis | Vn, kips | 189 | 189.0 | 126 | 125.8 | 0.19% |
| Torsion of hollow sections | ||||||
| H.5AHSS6X4X1/4 | Tn, kip-in | 251 | 250.9 | 167 | 166.9 | 0.05% |
| H.5BHSS5.000X0.250 | Tn, kip-in | 180 | 180.3 | 120 | 120.0 | 0.17% |
| Combined forces, and flexure with torsion | ||||||
| H.1BW14X99, 14 ft | Pn, kips | 1,130 | 1,127.8 | 750 | 750.4 | 0.20% |
| H.1BW14X99, 14 ft | Mnx, kip-ft | 642 | 642.3 | 428 | 427.4 | 0.15% |
| H.1BW14X99, 14 ft | Mny, kip-ft | 311 | 311.2 | 207 | 207.0 | 0.05% |
| H.1BW14X99, 14 ft | Interaction, Eq. H1-1a | 0.928 | 0.9292 | 0.931 | 0.9320 | 0.13% |
| H.6W10X49, torsion and flexure | Normal stress, ksi | – | – | 26.9 | 27.26 | 1.35% |
| H.6W10X49, torsion and flexure | Shear stress, ksi | – | – | 7.56 | 7.509 | 0.68% |
The examples are those of the AISC Design Examples companion, V14.0, chosen where the provision an example works is unchanged in the 2022 Specification. The examples were worked on the 14th edition's section tables and StruTrix Studio uses the AISC Shapes Database v16.0, so a difference of a few tenths of a percent is expected. The largest, 1.35%, is the normal stress of Example H.6: the example reads its torsional functions from Design Guide 9's charts, and the program solves the warping exactly. Example F.1-3B is the beam braced at its ends and centre, with Cb worked by Equation F1-1.
AISC 360-22 Commentary
Second-order analysis.
The Commentary to Section C2 gives two benchmark problems for judging a second-order analysis (Figures C-C2.2 and C-C2.3), and asks that a program agree within 3% in moment and 5% in deflection. These are the values with shear deformation.
| Axial load P, kips | Moment, Commentary (kip-in.) | Moment, StruTrix Studio | Difference | Deflection, Commentary (in.) | Deflection, StruTrix Studio | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case 1: W14X48, 28 ft, simply supported, 0.200 kip/ft across it. Moment and deflection at midspan (P-δ) | ||||||
| 0 | 235 | 235.2 | 0.09% | 0.202 | 0.2015 | 0.23% |
| 150 | 270 | 269.8 | 0.08% | 0.230 | 0.2305 | 0.20% |
| 300 | 316 | 315.9 | 0.03% | 0.269 | 0.2691 | 0.02% |
| 450 | 380 | 380.6 | 0.16% | 0.322 | 0.3231 | 0.35% |
| Case 2: W14X48, 28 ft cantilever, 1.0 kip across its tip. Moment at the base, deflection at the tip (P-Δ and P-δ) | ||||||
| 0 | 336 | 336.0 | 0.00% | 0.907 | 0.9072 | 0.03% |
| 100 | 470 | 470.3 | 0.07% | 1.34 | 1.343 | 0.25% |
| 150 | 601 | 601.8 | 0.14% | 1.77 | 1.772 | 0.13% |
| 200 | 856 | 857.9 | 0.22% | 2.60 | 2.610 | 0.37% |
Closed forms
Where the answer can be written down.
Without shear deformation, both benchmark problems have exact solutions. Over axial loads from 100 to 900 kips, the program's moments and deflections agree with the beam-column closed forms within 0.00001%. Automated tests hold other results the same way: a fixed-ended beam whose support settles carries 12EIΔ/L³ and 6EIΔ/L², and a structure built in one stage reproduces the plain analysis exactly.
Automated tests
How a wrong check is caught.
Published examples cover particular cases. These rules apply to every check, and a build that breaks one fails its tests.
Every check names its clause
A design check written without the clause it comes from fails a test, so every ratio can be traced to the page of the standard.
Every line of the working is evaluated
Each line of a member's working that shows numbers is computed again from its own inputs and must give that step's result, so a line that drops a term or an input fails.
The working is the check
The equations you read in a member's detail are recorded by the design's own functions and held to the design's result to the last bit. There is no second statement of a check to fall out of step.
LRFD and ASD share one strength
Over more than 3,000 strengths across every section family, the ASD strength is the same nominal strength over its Ω where LRFD takes its φ, each factor from its own clause.
Equilibrium, every combination
A separate calculation sums each combination's loads and reactions, and the report prints the result. Reactions balance loads within a millionth of their size.
More than 1,700 automated tests
Across the analysis engine, the steel checks, the load combinations, the model and the program itself, and repeated with every build.
Plainly
What steel design software has to do, and where StruTrix Studio stands.
What it does today, what is a Pro feature, and what it does not do yet. The features page lists every limit.
| Requirement | Status | What the program does |
|---|---|---|
| Design-code checks | In the program | AISC 360-22 by LRFD and ASD at points no more than six inches apart, under every combination designed: tension, compression, flexure, shear, torsion and combined forces, with unbraced lengths found from the structure and every check citing its clause. |
| Seismic and transmission design | Pro | Seismic design by ANSI/AISC 341-22 with ASCE 7-22: moment frames, cantilever column systems, and concentrically, eccentrically and buckling-restrained braced frames. Tapered tubes by ASCE/SEI 48-19. |
| Load combinations | In the program | The ASCE 7-22 generator writes the strength, allowable stress and service combinations, with notional loads, and a combination can be typed as it reads. |
| Traceable calculations | In the program | A member detail works every check equation by equation with its clause, in a window or as a PDF. The typeset calculation report states the basis, the model, the loads, the combinations, the equilibrium, the reactions and every member's checks clause by clause. Free, with no watermark. |
| BIM exchange | Pro | Export to IFC 4.3 with true steel profiles, and to Revit 2025, 2026 and 2027 as native structural columns and framing through the Ramisoft add-in. |
| Documentation | In the program | A built-in User's Manual in seventeen sections states every method, assumption and limit, with pictured tutorials and the standards it follows. |
| Model size | In the program | No limit on joints, members, load cases or combinations. Developed and timed on a building of about 10,000 members, the analysis running on every core. |
| Documented verification | On this page | The published answers above, beside the program's, and the automated tests that repeat them. |
| Connection design | In development | Not in the released program. It designs the members; a seismic design works the member side of ANSI/AISC 358-22 prequalified moment connections and reports the connections' required strengths. Design of plates, bolts and welds by AISC 360-22 Chapter J is in development. |
| Other countries' codes | Not offered | The steel design follows United States standards. Eurocode, AS/NZS and other national steel codes are not offered. |
| Record of use | New | In the Microsoft Store since November 1, 2026, so it does not yet have a long record of use. Its frame analysis engine and steel checks also ship in FoundaTrix Studio. |
Questions
Is it ready for real work?
Can StruTrix Studio be used for real steel design?
Yes, within its scope. It is professional software for practising engineers: three-dimensional frames of linearly elastic members under static loads, analysed to first order or by the AISC 360-22 direct analysis method, with every steel member designed by LRFD or ASD. As with any program, the engineer stays responsible for the model, the loads and the results. Connections are designed separately for now.
Are its AISC 360-22 checks verified?
They are held to the answers AISC published: 46 strengths from the AISC Design Examples within 1.35%, 43 of them within 1%, and the AISC 360-22 Commentary's second-order benchmarks within 0.37%. This page sets each one beside the program's value, and automated tests repeat them with every build. They are RamisoftSolutions' own comparisons; AISC and ASCE have not reviewed or endorsed the program.
Does it generate load combinations?
Yes. The ASCE 7-22 combination generator writes the strength, allowable stress and service combinations, with notional loads. The line loading writes a transmission line's combinations by the NESC, ASCE MOP 74 or MOP 113.
Does it produce calculation reports?
Yes, free and with no watermark: a typeset PDF of the basis, the model, the loads, the combinations, the equilibrium, the reactions and every member's checks clause by clause. A member detail works every check equation by equation with its clause, in a window or as a PDF.
Does it work with BIM tools?
It exports to IFC 4.3 with true steel profiles, and to Revit 2025, 2026 and 2027 as native structural columns and framing through the Ramisoft add-in. Both are Pro features.
Does it design connections?
Not yet. Today it designs the members, and a seismic design reports the connections' required strengths. Connection design is in development as a Pro feature, down to every plate, bolt and weld by AISC 360-22 Chapter J and ANSI/AISC 358-22.
Which design codes does it cover?
United States standards: AISC 360-22, ANSI/AISC 341-22, the member side of ANSI/AISC 358-22, ASCE 7-22, ASCE/SEI 48-19, ASCE MOP 74 and MOP 113, and the NESC. Eurocode, AS/NZS and other national steel codes are not offered.
Is it a student or educational program?
No. It is the same professional program in every plan, made for practising engineers on real projects. The analysis and the steel design are free with no limit on model size or time, no watermark and no account, and nothing restricts commercial use.
How long has it been available?
StruTrix Studio is new: it reached the Microsoft Store on November 1, 2026, so it does not yet have a long record of use, and its evidence is published here for that reason. Its frame analysis engine and steel checks also ship in FoundaTrix Studio.
Whose comparisons these are
These comparisons are RamisoftSolutions' own. AISC and ASCE have not reviewed or endorsed StruTrix Studio. A published example checks the program on that example, and does not establish that a model represents a structure: the engineer stays responsible for the model, the loads and the results, which must be reviewed by a licensed engineer before they are relied on in a stamped submittal. See the terms of use.
Run a frame you already know the answer to.
Download StruTrix Studio free from the Microsoft Store, with no account, and check it against a case you trust.