Metal Weight Calculator
Weight of any bar, plate, tube or section — per metre, per piece and for the whole order.
How it was calculated
Sheet gauge chart
Steel and galvanised gauges are defined by weight per square foot, so their kg/m² is the defining weight; aluminium is thickness × 2,700 kg/m³.
| Gauge | Steel (MSG) | Galvanised steel | Aluminium (B&S) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in | mm | kg/m² | in | mm | kg/m² | in | mm | kg/m² | |
About the Metal Weight Calculator
Work out what a piece of metal weighs from its shape and size: plate and sheet (by thickness or by gauge), discs and rings, round, square, flat, hexagon and octagon bar, round tube, square and rectangular hollow sections, pipe by nominal size and schedule, angles, channels, I- and H-beams, T-bars and wire by AWG or SWG. You get the cross-section area, the weight per metre and per foot, the weight of one piece and of the whole quantity, and the cost when you enter a price.
Choose from more than 40 materials — structural and stainless steels, aluminium alloys, copper, brasses and bronzes, titanium, nickel alloys and other metals — or type the density from your own data sheet. Hollow sections can use the corner radii of EN 10219 (cold-formed) or EN 10210 (hot-finished), and sections can include their root radius, so the results line up with the steel makers’ tables.
How to use it
- Pick the shape, then the size unit for diameters and thicknesses (mm, cm or inches) and the length unit for the piece length (m, mm, feet or inches). Changing a unit converts the numbers you have typed.
- Enter the sizes shown on the drawing next to the boxes. For plate you can choose a sheet gauge instead of a thickness; for pipe, a nominal pipe size and schedule (ASME B36.10M); for wire, an AWG or SWG size.
- Enter the length of each piece and the number of pieces. Leave the length empty to get the weight per metre only.
- Choose the material (its density fills in) or enter the density yourself. Add a price per kg, lb or tonne for the cost.
- Read the total, the weight per metre (or per m² for plate) and the working, and copy the result. The gauge chart below lists every steel, galvanised and aluminium gauge in inches, mm and kg/m², and downloads as CSV.
Examples
A = π ÷ 4 × 20² = 314.16 mm², density 7,850 kg/m³
2.466 kg/m → 14.80 kg per bar (the d²/162 rule of thumb gives 2.469 kg/m)
Face area 3.125 m² × 10 mm × 7,850 kg/m³
78.5 kg/m² → 245.3 kg per plate
EN 10219 corners: outside radius 2t = 10 mm, inside radius t = 5 mm
1,835.6 mm² → 14.41 kg/m (sharp corners would give 14.92 kg/m)
OD 2.375 in (60.33 mm) × wall 0.154 in (3.91 mm)
5.44 kg/m = 3.65 lb/ft, as in ASME B36.10M
h 300, b 150, t_w 7.1, t_f 10.7 mm
53.81 cm² → 42.24 kg/m (the Euronorm table gives 53.8 cm² and 42.2 kg/m)
0.0598 in = 1.519 mm at 7,850 kg/m³
11.92 kg/m²; the gauge itself is defined as 2.5 lb/ft² = 12.21 kg/m²
Common uses
- Estimating the weight of steel for a fabrication quote, a delivery or a crane lift
- Comparing what the same part weighs in steel, aluminium, stainless or titanium
- Turning a supplier’s price per kg into a price per bar, sheet or length
- Checking a sheet-metal gauge against its thickness in mm before ordering
The formulas
- Weight = cross-section area × length × density (for plate: face area × thickness × density)
- Round bar and wire: A = π d² ÷ 4. For steel this is the familiar d²/162 kg/m with d in mm
- Hexagon (s across flats): A = 0.8660 s²; octagon: A = 0.8284 s²
- Round tube and pipe: A = π (D − t) t, which is π ÷ 4 × (D² − d²)
- Square and rectangular tube: A = [B H − (4 − π) r_o²] − [(B − 2t)(H − 2t) − (4 − π) r_i²]
- Angle: A = t (a + b − t) + 0.2146 r²; I-beam, channel, T: flanges + web + 0.2146 r² for each root fillet
Densities used
Structural and carbon steel is 7,850 kg/m³, the value EN 1993-1-1 §3.2.6 specifies for design. Stainless steels follow EN 10088-1: 7,900 kg/m³ for 304, 321 and 310S, 8,000 for 316, 7,800 for duplex 2205 and 7,700 for the ferritic and martensitic grades (410, 420, 430). Aluminium alloys use the nominal densities of the Aluminum Association (2,660–2,810 kg/m³; 6061 is 2,700), copper alloys those of the Copper Development Association (C11000 copper 8,890, C36000 brass 8,500). Cast iron varies with its graphite content, so treat its value as typical and check with the foundry.
Sheet gauges
A gauge number is not a thickness: each material has its own table, and a higher number means thinner sheet. Steel sheet uses the Manufacturers’ Standard Gauge, which is defined by weight — 41.82 lb/ft² for every inch of thickness, so 16 gauge (40 oz/ft² = 2.5 lb/ft²) is 0.0598 in. Galvanised sheet adds 2.5 oz/ft² of zinc to the same weights, so it is slightly thicker for the same number. Aluminium sheet uses the Brown & Sharpe gauge, the same as AWG wire. Because the steel gauges assume about 8,040 kg/m³, the defined weight is about 2.4 % more than thickness × 7,850 kg/m³; the calculator shows the thickness-based weight and the chart shows both.
Hollow-section corners
Cold-formed tubes (EN 10219-2) are calculated with an outside corner radius of 2t and an inside radius of t up to 6 mm wall, 2.5t and 1.5t up to 10 mm, and 3t and 2t above that. Hot-finished tubes (EN 10210-2) use 1.5t outside and t inside. Choosing these makes the weight match the European tables; sharp corners overstate it by about 1–4 %.
Sources
- EN 1993-1-1:2005 §3.2.6 — density of structural steel
- EN 10088-1:2014 — list of stainless steels (densities)
- Aluminum Association, Aluminum Standards and Data — alloy densities
- EN 10219-2 and EN 10210-2 — hollow-section corner radii for calculating properties
- ASME B36.10M — welded and seamless wrought steel pipe dimensions
- Manufacturers’ Standard Gauge for sheet steel; Brown & Sharpe (AWG, ASTM B258) gauge for aluminium; Imperial Standard Wire Gauge (SWG)
Limitations
- Results use nominal sizes. Mill tolerances on thickness and diameter can change the real weight by a few percent; plates are often rolled slightly over nominal.
- Channels and beams are modelled with parallel flanges. Taper-flange sections (UPN, IPN, American Standard C and S shapes) and toe radii are not modelled — use the maker’s tabulated mass for those.
- Coatings, paint, threads, holes and cut-outs are not included (apart from the zinc built into the galvanised gauge).
- Densities are nominal room-temperature values; individual alloys and castings vary.
- For a crane lift, treat the result as an estimate of the steel alone: add the rigging, attachments and anything inside, and follow the lifting plan and the equipment’s rated capacity.
Privacy
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Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate the weight of steel?
Multiply the cross-section area by the length and the density. Steel is 7,850 kg/m³, so every mm² of cross-section weighs 7.85 g per metre: a 20 mm round bar (314.16 mm²) is 2.466 kg/m, and a 10 mm plate is 78.5 kg/m².
What is the d²/162 formula?
A shortcut for round steel bar: the weight in kg/m is the diameter in mm squared, divided by 162. It comes from π ÷ 4 × 7,850 kg/m³ = 1 ÷ 162.2, so it is about 0.1 % high. This calculator uses the exact area.
Why is my supplier’s table a little different?
Real sections have rounded corners, root fillets and sometimes tapered flanges, and tables use specific densities and radii. Choose the EN 10219 or EN 10210 corners for tubes and enter the root radius for beams and angles to match the tables closely; the remaining difference is usually rounding and tolerance.
How much does a steel pipe weigh per metre?
For steel, weight = 0.024662 × (OD − t) × t kg/m with OD and wall t in mm — the formula of ASME B36.10M. 2″ Schedule 40 (60.33 × 3.91 mm) is 5.44 kg/m; 4″ Schedule 40 (114.3 × 6.02 mm) is 16.07 kg/m.
Is 16 gauge the same thickness for steel, galvanised and aluminium?
No. 16 gauge is 0.0598 in (1.52 mm) for steel sheet, 0.0635 in (1.61 mm) for galvanised sheet and 0.0508 in (1.29 mm) for aluminium. Stainless sheet is often sold to the steel table or to the older US Standard Gauge (0.0625 in for 16), so ask for the thickness in mm or inches and enter that.
How much lighter is aluminium than steel?
About a third of the weight: 6061 aluminium is 2,700 kg/m³ against 7,850 kg/m³ for steel, a ratio of 0.344. The same 20 mm round bar weighs 0.848 kg/m in aluminium.