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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Seismic Design of Masonry Walls (TMS 402-16) in RISA-3D
February 15, 2022

Seismic Design of Masonry Walls (TMS 402-16) in RISA-3D

RISA-3D is expanding its industry leading support for the analysis and design of various materials with the implementation of Seismic Design of Masonry Wall Panels according to the provisions of TMS 402-16 (as well as ACI 530-13). When creating a model in RISA-3D, users now have the ability to...

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Canadian Concrete (CSA A23) Wall Panel Design in RISA
February 15, 2022

Canadian Concrete (CSA A23) Wall Panel Design in RISA

The CSA A23.3-14 Concrete Design Code has been implemented into RISA-3D v20 and RISAFloor v16 for concrete wall panels. These walls can be designated and designed as either gravity only or lateral elements in RISAFloor when designing a complete building utilizing concrete walls. Prior to this...

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Improved Modeling of Wall Footing Corners in RISAFoundation
February 15, 2022

Improved Modeling of Wall Footing Corners in RISAFoundation

The new Smart Corners feature in RISAFoundation Version 14 allows for the ability to draw continuous footings without causing overlapping slabs at the corner. To implement this, check the "Keep Wall Continuous" option when drawing a Lateral/Custom Strip Footing. For more information about this...

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Cold Formed Steel Wall Design Now Available
October 30, 2020

Cold Formed Steel Wall Design Now Available

Cold-formed steel framing is a durable, reliable and cost-effective option for low-rise and mid-rise building projects. With the release of RISA-3D Version 19 and RISAFloor Version 15, cold formed steel (CFS) walls are now available for analysis and design. Walls that have been designated as...

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Expanded Results for Contour Plots
July 7, 2020

Expanded Results for Contour Plots

Color contours and gradients can be very helpful to visualize the forces/stresses of plates and wall panels. But did you know there are other design tools that can be helpful in analyzing and understanding these contours? The family of Internal Force Summation Tools (IFST, IFST Wall and IFST Slab)...

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What wood wall design method should I use?
January 3, 2019

What wood wall design method should I use?

RISA-3D is one of the few pieces of software on the market offering wood shear wall analysis and design accompanied by multiple design methods to best suit your detailing needs.

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Masonry Retaining Walls now Available
January 18, 2017

Masonry Retaining Walls now Available

Now available in RISAFoundation v9 is the ability to design masonry retaining walls and strip footings with the latest US codes. Simply define your masonry wall and reinforcement parameters in the Wall Footing Definition Editor and then draw your wall footing.

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