What is ForceCanvas?
ForceCanvas is a 2D parametric sketcher with real structural analysis built in. You draw a structure the way you would in ordinary CAD (lines, dimensions, and geometric constraints), then add supports and loads, and the canvas solves live as you build. Drag any point and the whole structure re-solves in real time: reactions, member forces, and stability all update as you move.
What makes it different
A real parametric sketcher
Draw with the tools you would expect from CAD: dimensions, coincident points, parallel and perpendicular lines, tangents. Constraints are solved, not snapped, so the sketch holds its shape when you push it around.
Analysis that runs while you draw
There is no separate solve step. Add a support or a load and reactions appear immediately; drag a node and everything re-solves continuously, so you see how forces respond to a change as you make it.
Saves as you work
Every change saves to your account automatically, a moment after you stop editing and again when you switch tabs or leave the page. There is no save button to forget, and the footer shows when your work was last saved.
Shareable in one link
Publish a canvas as a read-only link anyone can open and drag in the browser. Related models live side by side as tabs in a workbook.
What you can model
ForceCanvas handles the structural analysis problems that come up in engineering coursework and design work: trusses, frames, beams, and mechanisms, solving for support reactions, member forces, and stability. Because the sketch stays parametric, you can drag a linkage through its travel and watch where the forces peak.
It is a 2D, linear-elastic, small-displacement tool. The full list of limitations is here The solver is benchmarked against closed-form solutions and third-party tools in Validation.
Guides and reference
Get Started
Build and solve your first model in about ten minutes.
Read moreBenchmarks
Benchmark problems checked against closed-form and third-party solutions.
Read moreInterface Tour
The toolbar, side panels, workbook tabs, footer, and keyboard shortcuts.
Read moreToolbar
Every tool in the toolbar: geometry, supports, loads, dimensions, and images.
Read moreConstraints
Every geometric constraint and what you select to apply it.
Read moreMaterials & Sections
The built-in section catalog, and what E, G, I, A and κ each control.
Read moreStatus Indicators
The footer status and advisory badges, and the beam stability overlay.
Read moreCanvas Legend
Every support, load, overlay, and geometry color used on the canvas.
Read moreCanvas Settings
Beam theory, units, precision, and the other per-canvas settings.
Read moreTutorials
Video walkthroughs of ForceCanvas.
Read moreHow It Works
Element formulation, Timoshenko vs. Euler-Bernoulli, and the limits of the model.
Read moreFAQ
Answers to common questions.
Read moreReady to try it yourself?
The fastest way to learn ForceCanvas is to draw something. Sketch a structure and watch the forces solve as you go.