RISA | Tips & Tricks (48)

February 18, 2025

Ready to Reconnect? How to Make the Most of Returning to RISA

Whether you’re coming back to RISA after a short break or revisiting it after years away, we’re here to make your return seamless and rewarding. From updated features to enhanced training resources, RISA is more equipped than ever to support your structural engineering needs. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you re-engage with RISA and maximize your experience. 1. Assess Your Needs Before diving back in, take a moment to consider your current project requirements. Are you focusing on steel design, concrete analysis, or something else? Knowing your priorities will help you identify the RISA products and features that align with your goals. Quick Tip: New to RISA? Check out our products with an engineer to see which tools best match your project scope. 2. Explore What’s New RISA software evolves continuously to meet industry demands. If it’s been a while, you might be amazed by the new features and integrations we’ve introduced. For example: Enhanced RISA-3D and RISAFloor integration for seamless lateral and gravity design workflows. New templates and tools for complex systems like semi-rigid diaphragms. Improved interoperability with Revit and other BIM software. Next Step: Visit our New Features page to catch up on the latest updates. 3…

June 17, 2016

Why Do Seismic Brace Story Forces Change My Existing Code Checks?

It is possible for seismic (OCBF or SCBF) vertical braced connections to have some limit state code checks lower than those for the same non-seismic connection.

May 25, 2016

SCBF Seismic Brace Connections

Vertical Diagonal Brace connections and Vertical Chevron Brace connections may be designed as Special Concentric Braced Frame (SCBF) connections in RISAConnection v6.

April 22, 2016

Seismic Braced Frames in RISAConnection v6

This webinar shows users how to design and detail brace connections including gussets to meet the AISC 341/358 Seismic Provisions.

April 19, 2016

OCBF Seismic Brace Connections

Vertical Diagonal Brace connections and Vertical Chevron Brace connections may be designed as Ordinary Concentric Braced Frame (OCBF) connections in RISAConnection v6.

March 31, 2016

OCBF & SCBF Seismic Brace Connections now Available

RISAConnection v6 has introduced the ability to design vertical brace connections per the seismic design provisions of the AISC 341-10 Seismic Design Manual.

March 26, 2016

Improved Wall Panel Results

Wall Panel Forces Spreadsheet The power of RISA is the easy to access output. The Wall Panels have all the calculations and forces displayed in the Detail Report and now the new Wall Panel Forces gives you a quick way to get all the forces across the base of the wall. This new spreadsheet can be...

March 18, 2016

How Do I Find A Failing Member in the Model?

You may find that when looking at the Code Check spreadsheet that a given member is failing in design. Here is an example where a steel brace is failing in bending.

March 10, 2016

Importing Recorded Seismic Ground Motions

The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research center (PEER) has a large library of measured earthquake records. Below is an example of how to quickly convert one of these records into a format that can be imported into RISA.

March 3, 2016

How to Thicken a Slab

RISAFloor ES allows you to model concrete slabs of any thickness. However, there might be sections of the building that require a thicker slab. The icon is shown below and it will allow you to draw a Polygon or Rectangular shape.

Tips & Tricks