# Structural Beam and Member Preliminary Checks

Screen a beam or slender member from support case and loading through reactions, section properties, bending and shear stress, deflection, and optional Euler buckling. Use the results for preliminary checking only, not design approval.

> Canonical page: https://elysiatools.com/en/hubs/structural-beam-member-checks

- **Keywords:** beam calculator, cantilever beam, simply supported beam, beam reactions, bending stress, shear stress, beam deflection, column buckling

## Frequently asked questions

### Should I use the cantilever or simply supported calculator?

Use the cantilever calculator when one end is idealized as fixed and the other is free. Use the simply supported calculator when the beam is idealized as resting on two supports. If the actual restraints are semi-rigid, continuous, or otherwise different, these classic cases are only rough screens.

### Can I pass the reaction result directly into the stress tools?

Use the reaction result to identify the governing shear and moment, then check units before entering them. `beam-reaction-force` reports kN and kN·m, while the stress tools expect force in N and moment in N·mm, so convert deliberately rather than copying the number unchanged.

### Why calculate both moment of inertia and section modulus?

The second moment of area I controls the classic elastic deflection relation and appears in bending formulas. The section modulus relates I to the extreme-fiber distance and makes the bending-stress calculation easier to interpret. Both must refer to the same geometry and axis.

### Does the Euler result approve a column design?

No. It is an idealized elastic buckling screen for an axially loaded member with selected end conditions. It does not replace code checks for yielding, imperfections, bracing, connections, load combinations, local or lateral-torsional effects, or other limit states; a qualified engineer must review the member.

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