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xsectionDatabaseICC

Run the calc
Populates the cross-section and material properties such as weight, area, moment of inertia / second moment of area, elastic and plastic section moduli, material strength, centroid location and more for US wood, steel, and cold-formed steel sections. Referenced to IBC 2018, 2021, or 2024.

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Method & scope

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Calculation method

The Cross-Section Database calculator is a lookup and property-derivation tool rather than a design calculator. It reads from three US section databases, derives geometric section properties using analytical formulae, and makes those properties available to downstream design calculations.
Section databases
Three databases are available depending on the material: Wood (timber_us), Standard US sawn lumber and glulam sizes with tabulated species/grade combinations. Section properties are derived from nominal dimensions. The database is aligned with the AWC/ANSI National Design Specification (NDS 2018 or 2024 depending on IBC edition selection) and its Supplement. Steel (steel_us), AISC shapes including W, S, M, HP, C, MC, WT, MT, ST, HSS (rectangular), HSS-R (round/pipe), and PIPE profiles. Tabulated values come directly from the AISC Steel Construction Manual, 15th Edition for IBC 2018/2021 and 16th Edition for IBC 2024. Properties such as Ix, Sx, Zx, rx, ry, and Iy are taken directly from AISC tables. Cold-formed steel (cfs_us), C, Z, and custom thin-wall sections per the SFIA Technical Guide for Cold-Formed Steel Framing Products (2024 edition). C-sections (studs, tracks, and u-channels), Z-sections, and special sections (flat, slotted, and L-sections) are included with their table-defined geometric properties.
Section geometry derivation
For each material type, the calculator constructs a section geometry object to feed the section properties solver. The geometry representation varies by shape:
  • Rectangular (wood): depth d and breadth b in inches
  • I-shapes (W, S, M, HP): depth d, flange width b, flange thickness t_f, web thickness t_w, fillet radius r = k_des, t_f
  • T-shapes (WT, MT, ST): depth d, flange width b, flange thickness t_f, web thickness t_w, fillet radius r
  • C and MC shapes: depth d, flange width b, flange and web thicknesses, root and fillet radii
  • HSS rectangular: depth d, width b, wall thickness t, outer corner radius r_out
  • HSS round and PIPE: outer diameter d, wall thickness t
  • CFS C and Z: depth d, flange width b, lip length l, thickness t, outer corner radius r_out
Section properties calculation
The section geometry is passed to the Calcs.com section properties solver, which computes the following:
  • Area (A): total cross-sectional area
  • Centroid (y_bar): distance from the reference datum to the elastic neutral axis
  • Second moment of area (Ix, Iy): moment of inertia about the major and minor principal axes
  • Elastic section moduli (Sx, Sy): I divided by distance to extreme fiber
  • Plastic section moduli (Zx, Zy): first moment of area of each half about the plastic neutral axis
  • Radii of gyration (rx, ry): rx = sqrt(Ix / A), ry = sqrt(Iy / A)
For standard hot-rolled shapes, section moduli and radii of gyration match AISC tabulated values within rounding.
Material properties
Material strength is assigned from the database record:
  • Steel: yield strength Fy from the AISC table for the selected designation (A992 for W-shapes, A36 for angles, or as specified)
  • Wood: reference bending design value Fb, modulus of elasticity E, and applicable adjustment factors from the NDS Supplement for the chosen species/grade combination
  • Cold-formed steel: base steel yield strength Fy from the SFIA table for the selected section designation
IBC edition and referenced standards
The IBC edition selector governs which material standard edition is cited in the output reference field per IBC Chapter 35:
  • IBC 2024: AISC 360-22 (16th Edition Manual), NDS 2024
  • IBC 2021: AISC 360-16 (15th Edition Manual), NDS 2018
  • IBC 2018: AISC 360-16 (15th Edition Manual), NDS 2018
Selecting the correct edition ensures the reference line in the output matches the code basis of the jurisdiction.
Linking to design calculators
The cross-section database output links to beam, column, and member calculators in Calcs.com. When a design calculator draws EI, section moduli, or strength properties from a linked database calculator, changing the section selection in the database calculator immediately updates every downstream calculation that references those properties.

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How to use it

1

Open the calculator

Open it from Run calc in the About this calculator panel above.
2

Enter your inputs

Work through the input sections from top to bottom. Click any input label to see its reference explanation, clause, conditions and assumptions. See Checks, References, Conditions and Assumptions.
3

Review the results and export

Check the utilization of each governing check in the summary, then export a PDF report. See Views and Export.

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Common questions

The calculator includes three US databases selectable from the Section Database dropdown: Wood (timber framing sizes and species/grade combinations per NDS Supplement), Steel (AISC W, S, M, HP, C, MC, WT, MT, ST, HSS rectangular, HSS round, and PIPE per the AISC Steel Construction Manual), and Cold-Formed Steel (C, Z, and custom thin-wall sections per the SFIA Technical Guide). The active database is set by the IBC edition, IBC 2024 references NDS 2024 and AISC 16th Edition; IBC 2021 and 2018 reference NDS 2018 and AISC 15th Edition.
The two primary inputs are the IBC edition (2018, 2021, or 2024) and the section database (Wood, Steel, or Cold-Formed Steel). Once the database is selected, you choose a specific section using the member selector, which lets you filter by section type, grade, depth, and flange width, and shows critical summary properties for each option. No manual entry of section dimensions is required.
Outputs include section mass per unit length, cross-sectional area, centroid coordinates, moment of inertia about both principal axes (Ix and Iy), elastic section moduli (Sx and Sy), plastic section moduli (Zx and Zy), radii of gyration (rx and ry), material strength (Fy or Fb depending on material), and a to-scale cross-section diagram. A data source reference line identifies the exact edition of the referenced standard.
You can use it standalone to look up section properties and confirm section geometry for hand calculations or report documentation. The main time-saving benefit comes from linking it into a project, when you connect the cross-section database output to a beam, column, or member calculator, any section change propagates automatically without re-entering dimensions. This is particularly useful when comparing multiple section options during preliminary design.
Select the IBC edition that your local jurisdiction has adopted. IBC 2024 is the current edition and references NDS 2024 and AISC 16th Edition. Many US jurisdictions are still on IBC 2021, which references NDS 2018 and AISC 15th Edition. IBC 2018 is also available for older project jurisdictions. The selected edition determines which referenced material standards appear in the output Data Source / Reference field.

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Next steps

Calculator Library

Complete list of Calcs.com design calculators available for United States projects (AISC, ACI, NDS, ASCE 7, IBC, and related standards).

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