The Beam Section Properties module calculates geometric section properties for general section types and also provides section properties for standard steel and aluminum sections. 

The Beam Section Properties main input form is shown in Figure 1. Section types are shown on the left side of the form. Click on the Section Types drop down menu to choose from General Sections, Standard Steel Sections, or Standard Aluminum Sections. Then select the desired section type to display the input parameters on the right.

Figure 1. Beam Section Properties module main input form

General Sections

The Beam Section Properties module will calculate section properties for the following general section types:

I-Beam	T-Beam	Channel	Angle
Z-Beam	Hat Section	Tube	Box
Rectangle	Elliptical	Circle	Hex

Plotting a General Section

After selecting a general section and entering its dimensions, press the 'Plot Section...' button to see a graphic representation of the section as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Plot of a general I-Beam section

Standard Sections

The Beam Section Properties module contains data for the following standard section types:

The main input form for accessing properties of standard sections is shown in Figure 3. Click the 'List Sections...' button to open a spreadsheet containing all standard section properties contained in the ETBX section database for the selected section type (see Figure 4).

Figure 3. Main input form showing standard steel sections

Figure 4.  Table of standard steel section properties

The Beam Section Properties module calculates the following geometric data for general sections:

• Area

• Moment of Inertia

• Product of Inertia

• Section Modulus

• Radius of Gyration

• Torsional Constant

• Centroid

• Shear Center

• Stress Recovery Points

• Distance to Outer Fiber

• Principal Moments of Inertia

The following data is provided for standard sections:

• Area

• Moment of Inertia

• Section Modulus

• Radius of Gyration

• Centroid

Section properties are output using the text-based ETBX results window shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Section properties results report