Best Free Beam Calculator

For engineers and construction professionals who want to guarantee the security and stability of their projects, beam calculators are crucial instruments. The load capacity, deflection, and bending moment are just a few of the many beam design calculations that can be aided by using a free beam calculator. Online, a large range of beam calculators, both paid and unpaid, are accessible. 

A structural beam’s stress and deflection under a specific load are measured using a beam calculation. The qualities of the beam, the load, and the supports are just a few of the variables that affect a beam’s ability to withstand bending. 

To build structures using the lightest and least expensive materials while meeting safety standards and retaining the aesthetic quality of the structure, beam load capacity calculations are required. 

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An excellent tool for quickly verifying beam forces is the beam calculator. Make use of it to assist with the design of steel, wood, and concrete beams under various loading scenarios.

However, in this article, we’ll share the best 10 free beam calculators.

What is a Beam Calculator?

A beam calculator is a virtual tool, often found online, that engineers and construction professionals use to analyze beams. Imagine a shelf holding books – that’s a beam!

These calculators take into account the beam’s material (wood, steel, etc.), size, and how it’s supported (resting on two walls, one wall, etc.). You also input the weight it needs to hold (the books on the shelf).

The calculator then provides crucial information like how much the beam will bend (deflection) and where the greatest stresses are concentrated. This helps ensure the beam can safely support the intended load without breaking or sagging.

What are Beam Calculators Used For?

Beam calculators are the unsung heroes of the construction world. These digital tools assist engineers and builders in ensuring that beams – the horizontal elements that support weight – can safely handle their intended loads.

Imagine a shelf laden with books. That shelf is essentially a beam! Beam calculators take into account various factors like the beam’s material (wood, steel, concrete), its dimensions (length, width, height), and how it’s supported (resting on two walls, one wall only, etc.). You also factor in the weight the beam needs to support (the books on the shelf).

The calculator then performs complex calculations to predict the beam’s behavior. It estimates how much the beam will bend (deflection) under the load and identifies areas where stress is most concentrated. This vital information helps engineers determine if the chosen beam is strong enough.

By preventing beams from breaking or sagging excessively, beam calculators play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and stability of structures.

Best Free Beam Calculators

Here are the best free beam calculators.

1. SkyCiv Free Beam Calculator

The SkyCiv tool is a free beam calculator designed to calculate deflection, bending moment, shear force, and stress for a wide range of beam configurations. It has a simple interface and provides detailed results in a matter of seconds. One of the company’s most well-liked free resources among experts and students studying structural engineering is its Free Beam Calculator. Users can perform structural analysis and design calculations for basic and cantilever beams using this web-based tool. 

Users of the SkyCiv Beam tool are guided through a professional beam calculation methodology, with the chance to evaluate the results and determine whether they adhere to the Design Codes in your area.

2. Civils

Civils can be used to draw bending moment diagrams, and shear force diagrams, compute reaction forces, and measure deflection for a beam span with the free beam calculator. Both structural analysis and beam analysis can be done with this free beam calculator. 

Steel section characteristics can be used to compute the maximum bending moment, along with shear forces, reaction forces, and deflection. To begin assessing the beam, specify the beam’s geometry and any point loads or dispersed loads. This free beam calculator has the ability to generate bending moment diagrams, shear force diagrams, and quantify deflection for an uncertain beam span and this is one of its main advantages. This data is essential for determining a beam’s strength and stability, and it can assist engineers in selecting the right beam size and material for a particular project.

3. Maiak-M Beam Calculator

This free beam calculator is one of the most popular on the web, providing quick and reliable results for beam deflection, shear force, and bending moment calculations. 

Maiak-M free beam calculator has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for engineers to input data and obtain results.

4. Optimal Beam Calculator

This user-friendly tool is designed to calculate the deflection, bending moment, and shear force for cantilever, simply supported, and propped beams. It supports both metric and imperial units and provides comprehensive results that can be easily printed or saved.

Optimal Beam offers its users a free beam calculator and also a premium version.

5. ClearCalc

ClearCalc offers you everything you require to engineer effectively and rapidly. Strong, user-friendly software with a vast library of frequently used structural sections and computations, as well as thousands of them.

They have a network of gifted engineers covering standards in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and North America, and they are constantly working to add the calculations you require to our continually expanding list.

You’re sure to find what you’re looking for, whether it’s a straightforward timber beam or steel connection, a more intricate retaining wall or gateway frame, or anything in between.

Spreadsheets that have bespoke designs may be stuck. They can also assist you in converting them so you can use ClearCalcs’ strengths and keep everything in one location. They offer both free and paid versions.

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6. WebStructural

For both simply supported and cantilevered beams, this free beam calculator provides shear force diagrams, bending moment diagrams, deflection curves, and slope curves. To begin, choose a beam and enter some dimensions. To view shear force diagrams, moment diagrams, deflection curves, slope, and tabular results, scroll down after that.

WebStructural offers her users with steel and wood beam design, shear and moment calculator, free beam calculator, cross-section properties, and anchor bolt designer.

7. BeamGuru Beam Calculator

This free beam calculator is designed to calculate beam deflection, bending moment, and shear force for single-span and continuous beams. It supports both metric and imperial units and provides detailed results that can be easily printed or saved.

For any statically determinate (most simple supported and cantilever beams) and statically indeterminate beams, frames, and trusses, BeamGuru is an online calculator that generates Bending Moment Diagrams (BMD), Shear Force Diagrams (SFD), and Axial Force Diagrams (AFD). Most other calculators lack this feature that allows for complete customization to fit most beams, frames, and trusses.

8. ASDIP

You may model up to three continuous spans and two end cantilevers using this free beam calculator. To enter the dimensions of the beam’s cross-section, the number of supports, the span lengths, and the kind of supports—fixed or pinned—use the Geometry tab. Beams can be rectangular, T-shaped, spandrel-shaped, or L-shaped. 

With ASDIP, it is possible to provide a variety of various load types, including uniform loads, changing loads, concentrated loads, and bending moments. Any span can use the spread loads partially. To enter the load information per span, select the Loads tab. From the Segment drop-down menu, choose the span. The loads can either be a set of nominal load scenarios that will be internally combined or pre-combined loads (no additional load factors). The external loads can readily be increased by the beam’s self-weight.

ASDIP offers two versions, the full version determines deflections, design concrete, and steel, full reports, structural strength, design composite beams, design specific load combinations, schedule beams, and more! While the trial version has a few minor restrictions, such as print and save, enables 15 days of testing for all ASDIP applications. 

9. MechaniCalc Beam Calculator

This is a beam calculator that makes it easy for engineers to calculate deflection, bending moment, and shear force for a wide range of beam configurations. It supports metric and imperial units and provides detailed results that can be easily printed or saved.

The analysis of stresses and deflections in straight beams is possible using MechaniCalc 

10. Steel Beam Calculator

This free tool is one of the most comprehensive beam calculators available online, with support for a wide range of beam configurations, loads, and supports. The results are detailed and easy to understand, making it an excellent tool for both students and professionals.

36 examples of beam diagrams for various static loading circumstances are included in this app.

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Conclusion

Beam calculations are employed in a variety of fields, including construction and aeronautics, to assure safety and prevent overbuilding.

To assist engineers, architects, and builders in calculating the parameters necessary for the design of structural beams, there are numerous free beam calculators online. Users can select the top 10 free beam calculators from the list in this article based on the user interface, the difficulty of the structure, and the necessary calculations. Overall, using these cost- and time-efficient techniques, builders may easily check the stability and safety of their projects.

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