H Beam Sizes and Weight Chart | MachineMFG (2024)

March 26, 2024 | By Shane| 6 minutes of reading

The dimensions and weight of H-beam steel can be calculated in various ways. Firstly, the cross-sectional area of the H-beam steel can be calculated using the formula A = t1(H-2t2)+2Bt2+0.858r², where H is the web height, B is the flange width, t1 is the web thickness, t2 is the flange thickness, and r is the fillet radius. Then, the weight of the H-beam steel can be calculated by multiplying the cross-sectional area by the density of the steel (7.85g/cm³).

Detailed theoretical weight tables can provide weight information for different specifications of H-beam steel. For example, for H-beam steel of 350*175mm, its theoretical weight is 41.8kg/m; for H-beam steel of 400*150mm, its theoretical weight is 55.8kg/m. These data show that with the change in the dimensions of the H-beam steel, its theoretical weight will also vary.

In addition, there are other formulas and methods that can be used to calculate the weight of H-beam steel, such as using formulas for the web width and bottom plate width, or calculating based on specific standard section sizes and their characteristics. It should be noted that there may be some errors in the actual calculation, such as a discrepancy of 0.2%-0.7% between the theoretical weight mentioned by reference tools and the actual weight.

What is the specific formula to calculate the weight of H-beam steel based on the width of the web plate and the base plate?

To calculate the weight of an H-beam steel based on the width of the web plate and the base plate, you can use the following formula: Weight (kg/m) = 0.00785 × (2.5 × a × t1 + (b – 2 × t1) × t2). Here, ‘a’ represents the width of the web plate of the H-beam steel, and ‘b’ represents the width of the base plate, both in millimeters (mm). ‘t1’ and ‘t2’ respectively represent the thickness of the web plate and the base plate of the H-beam steel, also in millimeters (mm). This formula combines the height and width of the web plate along with the width and thickness of the base plate, using these parameters to calculate the weight of every meter of H-beam steel.

H Beam Sizes and Weight Chart

H-steel is classified into four types, represented as follows:

• Wide Flange H-steel, denoted as HW (W stands for Wide)
• Medium Flange H-steel, denoted as HM (M stands for Middle)
• Narrow Flange H-steel, denoted as HN (N stands for Narrow)
• Thin-wall H-steel, denoted as HT (T stands for Thin)

The cross-sectional diagram and symbols for H-steel are depicted in the figure:

Definitions:

• H — Height;
• B — Width;
• t1 — Web thickness;
• t2 — Flange thickness;
• r — Fillet radius;
• cx — Centroid;

• Download H Beam Size Chart in PDF

H-beams are categorized by flange width into wide flange, medium flange, and narrow flange H-beams. The product model varies by type, with commonly used specifications as follows:

1. Wide flange H-beams (HW): The typical model specifications of wide flange H-beams are often indicated by the product of the web height and the flange width, usually including models such as 100×100, 125×125, 150×150, 175×175, 250×250, 300×300, 350×350, and so on. The denotation method is generally the web height (H) × flange width (B) × web thickness (t1) × flange thickness (t2), often showing a characteristic of identical height and width dimensions.
2. Medium flange H-beams (HM): The typical model specifications of medium flange H-beams are usually represented by the product of the web height and the flange width, mainly including models like 150×100, 200×150, 250×175, 300×200, 350×250, 400×300, 450×300, 500×300, and so on. The denotation method is the web height (H) × flange width (B) × web thickness (t1) × flange thickness (t2), typically demonstrating a characteristic where the height dimension slightly exceeds the width dimension.
3. Narrow flange H-beams (HN): The typical model specifications of narrow flange H-beams are often expressed by the web height multiplied by the flange width, mainly including models such as 100×50, 125×60, 150×75, 175×90, 200×100, 250×125, 300×150, 350×175, 400×200, 500×200, and so on. The denotation method is the web height (H) × flange width (B) × web thickness (t1) × flange thickness (t2), usually showing a characteristic of a larger height-to-width ratio.

Related reading:

• H Beam Weight Calculator
• I Beam Weight Calculator

What is H beam?

H-beam steel is a cost-effective and highly efficient structural profile with an optimized distribution of sectional area and an ideal strength-to-weight ratio. It gets its name from its section that resembles the letter “H.”

With all its components arranged at right angles, H-beam steel boasts strong resistance to bending, making its construction process simple, cost-effective, and resulting in lightweight structural strength in all directions. Due to these advantages, it is widely used.

H-beam steel is also known as universal beam, wide flange I-beam, or parallel flange I-beam. Its cross-section comprises web and flange plates.

Internationally, H-beam product standards are divided into two major categories: the imperial system used by countries like the USA and UK, and the metric system used by countries like China, Japan, Germany, and Russia.

Despite the difference in measurement units between the imperial and metric systems, H-beams are usually characterized by four dimensions: the height of the web (h), the width of the flange (b), the thickness of the web (d), and the thickness of the flange (t).

Although the method of indicating the dimensional specifications of H-beams varies across the world, the size specifications and tolerances of the manufactured products do not significantly differ.