How to design and check a steel beam (Eurocode 3 basics)
Steel Design · 9 min read · Updated 2026-04-17
A practical walk-through of designing a steel beam to BS EN 1993: section choice, bending, shear, deflection, and lateral-torsional buckling.
Engineering guides & resources — ℯηgcαlc
Practical engineering guides on steel design, beam analysis, truss forces, deflection checks, and more — written for students and working engineers.
How to size a steel column (compression and buckling)
Steel Design · 8 min read · Updated 2026-04-17
A clear step-by-step for sizing a steel column to Eurocode 3 — squash load, slenderness, buckling curves, and effective length.
Common bolt design mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Connections · 7 min read · Updated 2026-04-17
The bolt mistakes that come up again and again in design checks: shear plane location, bearing on thin plates, edge distances, and group eccentricity.
Base plate design basics (axial load + small moment)
Connections · 8 min read · Updated 2026-04-17
How to size a steel column base plate: bearing on concrete, plate thickness from cantilever bending, holding-down bolts, and a worked Eurocode example.
How to calculate beam reactions, shear force and bending moment
Structural Analysis · 8 min read · Updated 2026-04-17
A practical refresher on free-body diagrams, equilibrium equations, and how to draw clean shear force and bending moment diagrams for any beam.
How to check beam deflection (and what limit to use)
Structural Analysis · 6 min read · Updated 2026-04-17
Deflection is a serviceability check, not a strength check. Here's the practical method: pick the right load combination, calculate δ, and compare to the right limit.
How to solve truss member forces (method of joints, fast)
Structural Analysis · 7 min read · Updated 2026-04-17
A practical workflow for solving 2D pin-jointed trusses by hand: reactions first, then joint-by-joint with sign conventions that don't trip you up.
How to choose a steel section quickly (without opening the Blue Book)
Steel Design · 6 min read · Updated 2026-04-17
Practical rules of thumb for picking a UB or UC trial section in seconds — based on span, load type, and whether bending or buckling will govern.