AS 3990 (1993)

Mechanical Equipment Steelwork Checks Based on Working Stress Design

Verify mechanical steel structures — like cranes, lifts, piping, and mining frames—according to AS 3990:1993 directly within your FEA environment. The standard supports symmetrical sections: I-beams, channels, tees, and both circular and rectangular tubes.

About Standard

open tutorial How to Implement

Mechanical Equipment — Steelwork

AS 3990 (1993) defines a working stress method for the structural design of steel components used in mechanical systems. The standard is tailored to equipment such as pressure vessels, cranes, pipelines, and bulk handling systems—excluding bridges, thin-walled elements (<3 mm), and high-strength or cold-formed steel.

In SDC Verifier, checks are performed for symmetric cross sections and rely on material yield strength (from the model or manually defined). Beam length in the Y and Z directions is taken automatically from the Beam Member Finder.

This implementation helps engineers ensure compliance with Australia’s mechanical steelwork regulations—particularly Section 5: Design of Beams.