Videos / Overview
How ILX Connection is tested
Golden tests against published AISC examples, edition cross-checks, documented differences, and the automated test suite that runs before every release.
Transcript
How ILX Connection is tested.
Why it matters
When you put your name on a design, you need to trust the numbers behind it. That is why every release of ILX Connection is checked against the published AISC design examples and design guides. Today it passes over 3,200 checks, and every difference from a published value is explained.
Golden tests
We call them golden tests. More than 150 worked examples, from the AISC Design Examples, the base plate and bracing design guides, Engineering Journal papers and more, are entered just as they are printed.
ILX Connection designs each one, and every single check is compared with the published value, within a stated tolerance. You can see the results yourself, in the app, example by example and check by check.
Edition cross-checks
Many published examples were written to an earlier edition of the specification. We run them again with today's rules, and every change that comes from the newer edition is worked out ahead of time. The previous edition of the design examples is run side by side as a second opinion, and the same designs must agree in US and metric units.
Documented differences
When ILX Connection and a published example differ, the reason is written down. It may be rounding in the book, a more exact method, a more conservative choice, or a newer edition of the code. Nothing is quietly skipped. Filter the results to the differences, and each one links to its explanation.
The automated test suite
Behind the examples is an automated test suite of thousands of tests. It covers unusual inputs, drawings, reports, settings and units, and it runs on the same platform as our servers. A release only goes out when the whole suite passes.
What the checks have caught
This work pays off. The bracing design guide examples found a gusset case that was designed for too little force, and it was fixed. The previous edition of the design examples found a weld group that came out a few percent low, on the safe side, and that was fixed too. The new base plate design guide brought changes to friction, shear lugs and anchor rod holes, and the tests made sure every one was followed. The checks even found mistakes in published examples themselves, and those are documented too.
The verification document
All of it is in the verification document, free to download from our website. It lists every example, every check, and every difference, for the release you are using.
ILX Connection. Strength design you can check, built by engineers for engineers. Learn more at ilxconnection.com, or write to us at support@ilxstudio.com. ILX Studio, LLC is not affiliated with AISC.