Accuracy you can check

Benchmarked against the SAISC Red Book

TorenOne’s engineering kernel is deterministic — same inputs, same answer, every time. To prove it, we run it against worked examples and tables from the SAISC Southern African Steel Construction Handbook (Red Book), 8th ed. 2013and check every number. Below are our kernel’s computed values beside the Red Book’s published values, drawn from 43 automated, must-pass checks that run on every change.

What this covers

Member-level gravity design: section properties, axial compression, bending & lateral-torsional buckling, section classification, shear, and bolt resistances.

Still being validated: Connection detailing (baseplates, moment end-plates), beam-column interaction at frame level, and wind effects are under continued validation and registered-engineer sign-off.

TorenOne is a computational aid, not a certifying authority. Every calculation package is reviewed, verified and stamped by your registered (Pr.Eng / ECSA) engineer, who remains the responsible agent for the design.

Section properties

Red Book Tables 2.9 / 2.10 — 11 sections checked (≤ 1%)

CheckRed BookTorenOne kernelΔ
IPE 200 — area A2 850 mm²2 850 mm²match
IPE 200 — second moment Iₓ19.4 ×10⁶ mm⁴19.4 ×10⁶ mm⁴match
203×203×46 UC — area A5 880 mm²5 880 mm²match
254×254×73 UC — plastic modulus Zₓ990 ×10³ mm³990 ×10³ mm³match

Axial compression resistance, Cr

SANS 10162-1 cl. 13.3.1 · Red Book Ch 4 (Ex 4.1, 4.3)

CheckRed BookTorenOne kernelΔ
203×133×30, KL = 2 000 mm (Ex 4.1)834 kN842 kN+1.0%
305×305×118, Crx, KL = 3 700 mm (Ex 4.3)4 510 kN4 506 kN−0.1%
305×305×118, Cry, KL = 3 700 mm (Ex 4.3)3 890 kN3 894 kN+0.1%

Bending & lateral-torsional buckling, Mr

SANS 10162-1 cl. 13.5 / 13.6 · Red Book Ch 4–5 (Ex 4.3, 5.1, 5.2)

CheckRed BookTorenOne kernelΔ
305×305×118 — laterally supported Mrx (Ex 4.3)614 kN·m614 kN·mmatch
305×305×118 — laterally supported Mry (Ex 4.3)281 kN·m281 kN·mmatch
533×210×122 — critical LTB moment Mcr, KL = 5 m (Ex 5.2)1 625 kN·m1 626 kN·m+0.1%
533×210×122 — LTB resistance Mr, KL = 5 m (Ex 5.2)929 kN·m936 kN·m+0.8%
533×210×122 — LTB resistance Mr, KL = 10 m (Ex 5.1)317 kN·m317 kN·mmatch

Section classification

SANS 10162-1 cl. 11 · Red Book §5.1.3 / Table 5.3 — 15 sections, all exact

CheckRed BookTorenOne kernelΔ
152×152×23 H — in flexureClass 4Class 4 (rejected)match
203×203×46 H — in flexureClass 3Class 3match
305×305×97 H — in flexureClass 3Class 3match
305×305×118 H — in flexureClass 2Class 2match

Shear resistance, Vr

SANS 10162-1 cl. 13.4.1.1 · Red Book Ch 5 (Ex 5.3)

CheckRed BookTorenOne kernelΔ
533×210×82 — web shear (Ex 5.3)1 050 kN1 040 kN−1.0%

Bolt resistances

SANS 10162-1 cl. 13.10 / 13.12 · Red Book Table 7.2 — M16–M30, Class 8.8 & 10.9

CheckRed BookTorenOne kernelΔ
M20 8.8 — tension156 kN156 kNmatch
M20 8.8 — shear (1 plane, threads incl.)87.6 kN87.6 kNmatch
M24 8.8 — tension225 kN225 kNmatch
M30 8.8 — tension352 kN352 kNmatch
M20 10.9 — tension196 kN196 kNmatch

Don’t take our word for it

Every row above is a committed, automated test. They run in our continuous-integration pipeline on every change, so a kernel update can never silently drift from the Red Book without a test going red. The numbers here are our kernel’s output, not hand-typed targets.