Eng. Mohamed MustafaSteel Structures Design Engineer ← All free tools

Section · Optimizer ECP 205

Mohamed MustafaSteel Structures Design Engineer
© 2026 Mohamed Mustafa. All rights reserved.

01 Design actions & lengths

t·m
t·m
t
t
t
m
m
m
m
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—
—
—
—
—

Enter Mx and My as non-negative moment magnitudes. Cmx / Cmy are moment factors. Enter Vx and Vy as independent design shears; do not infer shear from bending moment.

02 Material & limits

t/cm²
t/cm²
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span /
cm
mm
mm
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Ready · 4,800 built-up candidates · No max web-depth limit

03 Scope & safeguards

Method, checks & limitations
  • Built-up I searches the available clear-web-depth range across 8 active ratios (up to 4,800 candidates); an entered Max height caps the overall height H. Plate thicknesses are snapped to the workbook stock list. Hot rolled I searches the selected family or all embedded profiles: IPE 80–600 and HEA / HEB / HEM 100–600, excluding profiles above the entered maximum. SHS and RHS search only the supplied cold-formed box catalogue (SHS 100 profiles, RHS 109 profiles, h × b × t from the availability sheet); Max height caps h.
  • Max stress ratio is an additional project target for the beam-column interaction check; it does not change the ECP equation or replace the other checks.
  • Both routes use the tool’s ECP 205-2001 member checks for compression, tension, biaxial bending, stability, deflection and shear. The selected section is recalculated independently.
  • Deflection assumes equivalent uniform loading from entered Mx/My maxima. Only live-load resultant deflection governs; Live-load fraction is the assumed live share of entered load effects. Major-axis shear Vx is checked through the web and minor-axis shear Vy through the flanges, using independent entered shears.
  • Support stiffeners: when permitted, the search does not size the section for shear. Any shear failure remains NOT SAFE until the stiffeners and affected shear path are designed and verified. The tool does not design the stiffeners.
  • Plate fabrication minima apply only to Built-up I. Hot rolled dimensions and root radii are taken from ArcelorMittal Orange Book profile tables; gross properties are calculated from those dimensions.
  • Connections/welds, fatigue, torsion, second-order effects and net-section rupture are not included. Connection design remains a separate check.
  • The fixed benchmark compares one saved workbook case with a 1% tolerance; it is not a general code verification. Explicit design shears Vx/Vy are required for the ECP shear check.

04 Optimized section

BUILT-UP I SECTION · ISOMETRIC
Optimize to see the lightest candidate that meets the selected design checks.
NoteDesign aid only — the responsible engineer must verify every input and result.

Verification

Independent result and workbook benchmark

This fixed-case benchmark compares the tool with the saved Beam Column workbook example. Numerical values pass when the difference is no more than 1%.

Case: Built-up I, ST37 (Fy 2.4 t/cm²), d = 27.86 cm, T = 15 cm, tw = 0.71 cm, tf = 1.07 cm, Mx = 7.4 t·m, My = 0, N = 0, Vx = 12.5 t, Vy = 0, span/Lx/Ly/Ltb = 3.6 m, Cb = 1.75, Cmx = 0.85, Cmy = 1.00, live fraction = 0.40, live deflection limit = L/600. Reference outputs are the saved workbook values; this fixed case does not follow edits to the page inputs. Only listed quantities are benchmarked, and this does not replace engineering review.

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© 2026 Eng. Mohamed Mustafa. All rights reserved. The tool, its code and its report format may not be copied or redistributed.