Structural Steel Weight Calculator (Plates, Pipes, Angles, Beams)

About the Structural Steel Weight Calculator (Plates, Pipes, Angles, Beams)

Add up the weight of structural steel for an order or a fabrication list. Pick rolled sections by designation — medium, light, junior and wide-flange beams (ISMB, ISLB, ISJB, ISWB), column and heavy sections (ISSC, ISHB), channels (ISMC, ISLC, ISJC) and equal and unequal angles (ISA) with their IS 808 masses — or enter plates and sheets, flat, round and square bars, round tubes (with the IS 1161 sizes) and square and rectangular hollow sections by their dimensions. Any other section can be entered by its mass per metre from a steel table or the mill's catalogue.

Each line gives the weight per metre (and per m² for plate), per piece and for the quantity; the list gives the total in kg and tonnes and the cost at your price per kg or tonne. Steel is taken at 7,850 kg/m³, the unit mass of IS 800.

How the weights are worked out

Weight per metre = cross-section × 7,850 kg/m³, the unit mass of steel in IS 800 cl. 2.2.4.1 — 0.785 kg per cm² of section per metre:

• Plate, sheet and flat: width × thickness (a 10 mm plate weighs 78.5 kg/m²)
• Round bar: π d² ÷ 4 (20 mm: 2.466 kg/m) · square bar: a²
• Round tube or pipe: π (D − t) × t — exactly the masses of IS 1161 Table 1
• Square and rectangular hollow sections: IS 4923 Annex A rounds the corners to an outside radius of 2t and an inside radius of t, so A = 2t (B + D − 8t) + 3π t²; with sharp corners A = 2t (B + D) − 4t²
• Rolled sections: the nominal mass in the IS 808 tables, which also uses 0.785 × area. Rolling tolerances (IS 1852) make actual weights differ a little.

IS 808 sections and their names

IS 808:1989 designates sections by series and depth — MB 200 for a medium weight beam 200 mm deep, MC 200 for a channel — and angles by their legs and thickness, L 50 50 × 6. The familiar ISMB, ISMC and ISA names are its abbreviated references for the same series. Medium weight beams (Table 2.1): ISMB 100 8.9 kg/m · 150 15.0 · 200 24.2 · 250 37.3 · 300 46.0 · 350 52.4 · 400 61.5 · 450 72.4 · 500 86.9 · 600 123. Medium channels (Table 4.1): ISMC 75 7.14 · 100 9.56 · 150 16.8 · 200 22.3 · 250 30.6 · 300 36.3 · 400 50.1.

The 1989 revision changed some sections — for example MB 100 now has a 50 mm flange and 4.7 mm web instead of 70 mm and 4.5 mm — so older steel tables can list different figures. Heavier ISHB sections rolled from the same rolls are listed with their mass, which IS 808 asks you to state when ordering.

Tubes (IS 1161)

Steel tubes for structural purposes are named by nominal bore and wall thickness. The outside diameters are fixed: 15 NB = 21.3 mm, 20 = 26.9, 25 = 33.7, 32 = 42.4, 40 = 48.3, 50 = 60.3, 65 = 76.1, 80 = 88.9, 100 = 114.3, 150 = 165.1 or 168.3 mm and so on up to 1200 NB = 1,219 mm. The type list offers every size and wall thickness of IS 1161 Table 1 as amended; for example 50 NB weighs 2.88, 3.56, 4.24, 5.55 and 6.82 kg/m with 2, 2.5, 3, 4 and 5 mm walls.

Sources

• IS 808:1989, Dimensions for Hot Rolled Steel Beam, Column, Channel and Angle Sections: Tables 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2 and 6.1 — archive.org; the current edition, IS 808:2021, is listed on BIS e-Sales
• IS 1161:2014 with Amendment 2, Steel Tubes for Structural Purposes, Table 1 — the standard on archive.org (with Amendment 1), and the amendments as free downloads on BIS e-Sales
• IS 4923:1997, Hollow Steel Sections for Structural Use, Annex A and Table 1 — archive.org
• IS 800:2007, General Construction in Steel, cl. 2.2.4.1 — archive.org

Limitations

• Weights are nominal: rolling tolerances, mill scale and galvanising add or remove a few per cent. Weigh-bridge weights decide payment.
• The rolled-section masses are those of IS 808:1989 (third revision), the edition published on archive.org. IS 808 has since been revised as IS 808:2021, and mills may roll other sizes or older series — check the current tables or the mill catalogue for the section you buy, and enter its kg/m as an Other section where it differs.
• Cut lengths, wastage and offcuts are not added; enter the lengths you will buy.
• For other metals or stainless steel, change the density; the metal weight calculator lists densities for many alloys.

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