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,…

Read More

CD Factor for Wood Hold-Downs
September 15, 2020

CD Factor for Wood Hold-Downs

If you have utilized Hold-Down's in RISA-3D, you have mostly likely noticed that a value of CD is reported for each selection in the database. However, it may not be clear how it is being used?

Read More
Understanding Node Reactions for Wall Panels
September 10, 2020

Understanding Node Reactions for Wall Panels

In the Node Reaction spreadsheet, all reactions from node-based boundary conditions are reported. If you look closely at some models, there may be wall panel labels in the Node Reactions spreadsheet as well. This may cause users to ask the question:”what are these reaction values for a...

Read More
Determining Masonry Wall Compression Block Depth Value
August 18, 2020

Determining Masonry Wall Compression Block Depth Value "a"

When determining the Depth of Compression Block value of ‘a’ in a Masonry Wall design based on the equation a = (As * fy)/(0.8 * fm * b) in a RISA-3D model, it is possible to see a small variance in the program results versus a traditional hand calculation using this typical equation. The reason...

Read More