Tips & Tricks

December 29, 2025

What’s New for IBC 2024 in RISA: A Closer Look

With RISA’s latest release of RISA-3D v23.0.1, we’re continuing to expand support for IBC 2024, helping engineers stay aligned with the latest building code requirements as adoption accelerates across the U.S.—including federally funded projects. This release builds on v23.0.0 ASCE 7-22 enhancements and adds key material design updates that move RISA further into full IBC 2024 compliance. New Material Design Updates Supporting IBC 2024 The upcoming release introduces several important design code updates referenced by IBC 2024, including: Steel Seismic design per AISC 341-22 Prequalified connections per AISC 358-22 Continued support for AISC 360-22 (16th Edition) steel design Ongoing updates to the hot-rolled shape database, including compatibility with both 15th and 16th Edition steel manuals These updates support modern seismic detailing requirements and ensure consistency with current steel industry standards. Masonry Masonry design per TMS 402-22, aligning with the latest strength and serviceability provisions adopted by IBC 2024. Key updates include: Revisions to shear design equations, including clarified definitions of shear area as outlined in Table 4.4.5, improving consistency and transparency in shear capacity calculations. Updated strength reduction factors for flexure and combined flexure + axial. Unlike previous editions that used a fixed ϕ-factor of 0.9, TMS 402-22 introduces tension-controlled,…

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How to Model a Building on a Hill
September 14, 2010

How to Model a Building on a Hill

When dealing with a sloping site, it is often necessary to step-down the bases of columns and walls along the length of a building. The example below illustrates how to model this in RISAFloor.

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How to Design Wood I-Joists with RISAFloor
August 26, 2010

How to Design Wood I-Joists with RISAFloor

RISAFloor has the capability to design wood I-Joists based on tables provided by the manufacturer, or provided by you. When modeling beams in RISAFloor, choose the Wood Product material, and choose a joist manufacturer from the shape group.

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Circular Slab Generation in RISAFoundation
July 30, 2010

Circular Slab Generation in RISAFoundation

RISAFoundation now has the ability to automatically generate a circular slab with just a few easy clicks. Using the generator the program will create the mat slab and tank loading all in one easy step. Go to the Insert menu and select "Circular Foundation".

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How Do Plates Connect to Members?
July 28, 2010

How Do Plates Connect to Members?

In order to understand the interaction between plates and members it is important that you know the basics of Physical Members and Plate Connectivity. Remember that plates only connect to other elements at their corners, and you will instantly recognize why the model below will not work as intended.

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How to Create an Engineered Wood Material
June 22, 2010

How to Create an Engineered Wood Material

In RISA-3D and RISAFloor, the entire NDS species list is available as well as glulam materials but you may need to design a wood product that is not available in the program.

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How Do Plates Connect to Each Other?
June 14, 2010

How Do Plates Connect to Each Other?

To best understand how plates interact with each other you must first understand the concept of Physical Members. The important thing to keep in mind is that plates are not physical members. A plate is defined using either three or four joints, and it only connects to other plates at those joints....

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Define a Beam Eccentricity in RISA-3D
May 24, 2010

Define a Beam Eccentricity in RISA-3D

When you have a deep column, it is necessary to model the beam so that it connects to the face of the column. This results in an eccentricity at the joint. RISA-3D offers two ways to model this eccentricity.

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