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RUNWAY-OP™Intelligent Steel Girder Design, Optimization, and Moving Load Simulation

Adisorn Owatsiriwong


Engineering Challenges in Modern Steel Girder Design

Designing steel runway beams, crane girders, transfer girders, and long-span steel beams is often an iterative process involving repeated structural analysis, code checks, and section revisions. Engineers must evaluate numerous load combinations, serviceability requirements, and stability failure modes while maintaining economical fabrication costs.

Traditional workflows typically require multiple software packages, manual calculations, spreadsheets, and engineering judgment to converge toward a practical design.

To address these challenges, ALPS Consultants has developed RUNWAY-OP™, an intelligent steel girder design platform that combines finite element analysis, moving load simulation, AISC 360 code checking, and optimization technology into a single integrated environment.



What is RUNWAY-OP™?

RUNWAY-OP™ is an advanced steel beam and girder design system developed for:

  • Crane runway girders

  • Industrial building girders

  • Transfer girders

  • Long-span steel beams

  • Plate girders

  • Built-up steel sections

  • Bridge Girders

  • Moving load applications

The software integrates structural analysis, code compliance, optimization, and reporting into a unified workflow.

Advanced Built-Up Girder Modeling

RUNWAY-OP™ supports a variety of practical fabricated steel sections including:

Standard Wide Flange (H Section)

Conventional rolled wide flange sections for routine applications.

Built-Up Plate Girders

Fabricated girders with independent control of:

  • Overall depth

  • Flange width

  • Flange thickness

  • Web thickness

allowing economical designs for heavy-duty applications.

Multi-Web Built-Up Girders

Built-up sections containing:

  • One central web

  • Two outer webs

for enhanced weak-axis stiffness and torsional resistance.

Box Girders

Closed box sections offering superior torsional rigidity and lateral stability.

Hybrid H + Box Configurations

Custom fabricated sections combining the benefits of wide flange and box girder behavior.


Integrated Moving Load Simulator

source: AISC Design Guide No. 7
source: AISC Design Guide No. 7

One of the most powerful capabilities of RUNWAY-OP™ is its moving load simulation engine. No need for an influence line or any guess of critical loading positions.

Users may define arbitrary wheel or axle configurations such as:

  • Crane wheel loads

  • Trolley loads

  • Vehicle loads

  • Equipment loads

The software automatically:

  1. Generates moving load positions

  2. Solves each load position

  3. Computes support reactions

  4. Generates moment envelopes

  5. Generates shear envelopes

  6. Determines governing design actions

The simulator includes animated visualization showing:

  • Vehicle movement

  • Wheel positions

  • Support reactions

  • Shear response

  • Moment response

  • Deflected shape

allowing engineers to understand structural behavior intuitively.

Watch the crane moving the load in ACTION!

Finite Element Analysis Engine

At the core of RUNWAY-OP™ is a continuous beam finite element solver capable of:

  • Multi-span beams

  • Cantilevers

  • Mixed support conditions

  • User-defined restraint conditions


The solver supports:

  • Distributed loads

  • Concentrated loads

  • Moving loads

  • Dead loads

  • Live loads

  • Wind loads

with exact equilibrium verification and support reaction recovery.


Intelligent Optimization Technology

Rather than relying on trial-and-error sizing, RUNWAY-OP™ employs intelligent optimization algorithms to automatically search for efficient structural solutions.

The optimization engine evaluates:

  • Section dimensions

  • Built-up plate configurations

  • Stability requirements

  • Serviceability limits

  • Fabrication practicality

while minimizing structural weight and material usage.

The software automatically converges toward designs satisfying user-defined constraints.


Comprehensive AISC 360 Design Verification

RUNWAY-OP™ performs code-based steel design checks in accordance with AISC 360 requirements.

Flange Local Buckling (FLB)

Evaluation of flange compactness including:

  • Compact

  • Noncompact

  • Slender

classification and strength determination.

Web Local Buckling (WLB)

Automatic web slenderness evaluation including:

  • Compact web limits

  • Noncompact web limits

  • Slender web behavior

and associated strength reductions.

Lateral Torsional Buckling (LTB)

Full lateral stability evaluation including:

  • Unbraced length effects

  • Lp and Lr limits

  • Plastic region

  • Inelastic region

  • Elastic buckling region

with automatic governing strength determination.

Shear Strength

Web shear capacity verification.

Combined Bending Checks

Strong-axis and weak-axis interaction effects.


Automatic Load Combination Evaluation

RUNWAY-OP™ automatically evaluates multiple load combinations for:

Strength Design

Examples include:

  • 1.4(D+CR_D)

  • 1.2(D+CR_D) + 1.6(L+CR_L)

  • 1.2(D+CR_D) + 1.0W

Serviceability

Examples include:

  • 1.0(D+CR_D) + 1.0(L+CR_L)

  • 1.0(D+CR_D) + 1.0W

The governing demand-capacity ratio (DCR) is automatically identified and reported.


Engineering Visualization

RUNWAY-OP™ provides engineering-focused graphical output including:

  • Moment diagrams

  • Shear diagrams

  • Deflection diagrams

  • Support reactions

  • Moving load animations

  • Optimization convergence history

  • Section geometry visualization

allowing rapid validation and interpretation of results.

Professional Calculation Reports


The software automatically generates comprehensive engineering reports including:

  • Input summary

  • Structural analysis results

  • Governing load combinations

  • Support reactions

  • Equilibrium verification

  • Deflection checks

  • Stability checks

  • FLB calculations

  • WLB calculations

  • LTB calculations

  • Optimization results

  • Section geometry

Reports are suitable for engineering review, documentation, and project records.

Steel Runway Girder Design Made Easy

RUNWAY-OP™ represents a shift from traditional trial-and-error beam design toward intelligent engineering automation.

By integrating:

  • Finite element analysis

  • Moving load simulation

  • AISC 360 code compliance

  • Optimization technology

  • Professional reporting

RUNWAY-OP™ enables engineers to achieve safer, more economical, and more efficient steel girder designs while dramatically reducing design time.


References:

AISC Steel Design Guide Series Industrial Buuildings: Roofs to Column Anchorage (DG7), 1993

McGuire, Matrix Structural Analysis, 2nd Ed.

McCormac, Csernak, Structural Steel Design, 5ed, 2011



Developed by ALPS Consultants

RUNWAY-OP™Intelligent Steel Girder Design, Optimization, and Moving Load Simulation Technology

ALPS Consultants Engineering Innovation Through Analysis, Optimization, and Automation.

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