Risa Tips & Tricks: How to Use Our Structural Analysis Software

August 19, 2026

The RISA License Difference: Built for How Engineering Teams Actually Work

RISA’s shared, cloud-based licensing model is designed to reduce software costs, eliminate administrative frustrations, and give engineers access to the tools they need when they need them. Unlike traditional named licenses, RISA licenses are shared across your team and not tied to a specific user. Shared licenses align with real world workflows and budgets. For firms evaluating different structural engineering software, shared vs. named software licenses directly impacts both cost and productivity. READY TO LEARN MORE? Explore RISA's Cloud Licensing Difference Reduce License Costs Without Limiting Access Most firms do not need a dedicated license for every engineer. With RISA’s shared license model, access is based on usage rather than user. Teams can operate efficiently with fewer shared licenses versus the named license alternative. For example, a senior engineer may only need periodic access to review another engineer’s model. With a named license system, they would require a full license despite the limited use. Over time, this leads to an underutilized tool and higher total costs. By contrast, shared licensing ensures that licenses aren’t sitting idle on one individual’s computer. Licenses can be accessed by multiple team members requiring fewer total licenses and lowering overall licensing costs. Eliminate Reassigning Delays…

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RISA-3D (22)

January 14, 2016

Importing a Time History Function

New in RISA-3D v14 is the introduction of a Time History analysis feature....

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January 07, 2016

Mechanically Graded Wood Design now Available

Mechanically graded wood materials have been added for the AWC NDS 2015...

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December 22, 2015

Wood Design per AWC NDS 2015 Wood Code

The latest versions of RISA-3D and RISAFloor now incorporate the AWC NDS...

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December 16, 2015

Concrete Design per ACI 318-14 Concrete Code now Available

The new ACI 318-14 code has been implemented into RISA-3D v14, RISAFloor...

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December 09, 2015

Envelope Detail Report Results

RISA-3D v14 introduced envelope detail reports for all material members....

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November 24, 2015

Making a Time History Animation Video

Time history analysis solves for normal analysis results (joint...

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September 22, 2015

Why Did the Wood Design Values Drop?

You may notice discrepancies in the wood design values when comparing RISA...

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September 16, 2015

How RISA-3D Calculates Member Deflection Ratios

After solving a model, you will see in the Member Deflections spreadsheet...

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September 09, 2015

Why don’t the Beams in my Frame have axial force?

The beams in a lateral force resisting system, such as a braced frame or...

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