H Beam Size and Weight Chart (FREE Downloadable PDF)

Embark on a journey into the world of H-beam steel, a cornerstone of modern construction and a marvel of engineering efficiency.

Whether you’re an architect, an engineer, or a DIY enthusiast, understanding the intricacies of H-beam steel is crucial. This comprehensive guide will shed light on the H-beam universe – from its unique ‘H’ shape that ensures strength in all directions to the fascinating science behind its optimized distribution of sectional area.

We understand that the prospect of determining the right H-beam size and weight for your project might seem daunting. But fear not! We’ve distilled this complex process into a user-friendly chart designed to empower you to make informed decisions.

So, ready to unravel the mysteries of H-beam steel?

Dive in, and unlock the potential of this versatile material to build structures that are not just strong, but incredibly efficient too!

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.

Structures of H beam

H-Beam is a new type of economic steel used in construction.

The section shape of H-beam is economically reasonable, with good mechanical properties. During rolling, each point on the section extends uniformly and stresses are small.

Compared with ordinary I-beams, it has the advantages of large section modulus, light weight, and metal saving, which can reduce the weight of building structures by 30-40%.

Moreover, because the inner and outer sides of the legs are parallel and the leg ends are right angles, the amount of welding and riveting can be reduced by 25% when assembled into components.

It is commonly used in large buildings (such as factories, high-rise buildings) that require high load-bearing capacity and good section stability, as well as bridges, ships, lifting and transportation machinery, equipment foundations, supports, foundation piles, etc.

H-Beam is an economically efficient sectional steel developed from I-beam with better sectional mechanical properties, especially named after its section shape being the same as the English letter “H”.

Its characteristics are as follows:

• Wide flange, large lateral stiffness. Strong bending resistance, about 5%-10% higher than I-beam.
• The two surfaces of the flange are parallel to each other, making it easy to connect, process, and install.
• Compared with welded I-beams, it has lower cost, higher precision, smaller residual stress, and does not require expensive welding materials and welding seam testing, saving about 30% of the cost of steel structure fabrication.
• Under the same section load, the hot-rolled H-steel structure is about 15%-20% lighter than traditional steel structures.
• Compared with concrete structures, the hot-rolled H-steel structure can increase the usage area by 6%, while reducing the self-weight of the structure by 20%-30% and reducing the internal forces of the structural design.
• H-beams can be processed into T-shaped steel, and honeycomb beams can be combined to form various sectional forms, which greatly meet the needs of engineering design and fabrication.

Types of H beam

H-beam is divided into two types: hot-rolled H-beam and welded H-beam (H). Hot-rolled H-beams are further divided into three types: wide flange H-beams (HW), middle flange H-beams (HM) and narrow flange H-beams (HN).

HW has a height and flange width that are basically equal. It is mainly used as the steel core column in reinforced concrete frame structures, also known as rigid steel columns. In steel structures, it is mainly used for columns.

HM has a height to flange width ratio of approximately 1.33~1.75. It is mainly used in steel structures as a framework column or beam that can withstand dynamic loads, such as equipment platforms.

HN has a height to flange width ratio greater than or equal to 2 and is mainly used for beams; its usage is similar to that of I-shaped steel.

The main materials for H-beams include Q235B, SM490, SS400, Q345, Q345B.

There are various specifications for H-beams, which can be classified as follows:

1. Based on the flange width:

• Wide flange
• Middle flange
• Narrow flange H-section steel

The width of the flange (B) in H-section steel with wide or medium flanges is equal to or greater than the height of the web (H), while the width of the flange (B) in H-section steel with narrow flanges is roughly half of the height of the web (H).

2. Based on its shape:

• H-beam
• H-column
• H-pile
• H-beam with an extremely thick flange

In certain instances, parallel leg channel steel and parallel flange T-shaped steel can also fall under the classification of H-section steel.

Narrow flange H-section steel is commonly utilized for beams, while wide flange H-section steel is utilized for columns.

Thus, it is referred to as beam H-section steel and column H-section steel, respectively.

3. Based on production method:

• Welded H-section steel
• Rolled H-section steel

4. Based on size:

• Large H-section steel
• Medium H-section steel
• Small H-section steel

Typically, H-section steel with a web height (H) exceeding 700mm is considered large, a web height between 300mm to 700mm is considered medium, and a web height less than 300mm is considered small.

Application of H-Beams

As mentioned earlier, H-beam is a highly efficient profile with optimized cross-sectional area distribution and a large strength-to-weight ratio. It has good compressive and bending properties and has been widely used in civil engineering for many years. It also has many applications in machinery, petrochemicals, electricity, transportation, etc., and is commonly used in the following structures or components:

1. Beam and column structural components in industrial and civil building steel structures.

It can be mainly used as load-bearing frame beams and column components for single-layer or multi-layer industrial and civil buildings, frame beams, columns, and floor beams for high-rise steel structure buildings, and industrial floor beams.

Many foreign companies specializing in prefabricated houses also produce a large number of light steel structure buildings using H-beams as the main skeleton material.

2. Load-bearing support structures for industrial structures.

It can be used as dry pipeline supports, transport bridge supports, mine trough and mine support, as well as blast furnace body frames, beams, columns, and other components.

3. Steel piles and support structures for underground engineering.

It is mainly used for slope protection piles in deep foundation pit engineering, which are easy to construct, reliable in bearing capacity, and can be recycled many times.

Special H-shaped steel (HP series) can now be produced specifically for piles, making it more convenient and reasonable to use.

In addition, when horizontal and vertical slope support is required in a deep foundation pit, H-shaped steel is also a commonly used support component. As the support can be recycled and reused, there are already specialized foundation companies abroad that rent out a series of supporting and pile H-beams, making it convenient for users.

4. Industrial equipment frameworks for petrochemical and power industries.

For many years, H-shaped steel has been used as the basic component for beam and column supports for a large number of outdoor tank bodies, tower bodies, and pipeline support structures in the petrochemical system.

In recent years, almost all of the boiler supports for dozens of thermal power plants built domestically have used imported rolled H-shaped steel as the beam and column components.

5. Large-span steel bridge components.

For large-span truss-type steel bridges, H-shaped steel is commonly used as the basic component for the rod members and bridge floor system beams and supports. However, because the rod members often require wider flanges, there are certain limitations when using rolled series H-shaped steel.

6. Other application areas.

In addition to the above, H-shaped steel and its split T-shaped steel are also commonly used profiles in mechanical equipment manufacturing, vehicle and shipbuilding, construction of underground railways and elevated bridges, earthquake resistance and fire prevention, temporary construction, and additional building construction.

H-beam’s Characteristics

H-beam’s characteristics are:

1. High structural strength: compared with I-beams, H-beams have a larger section modulus and can save metal by 10-15% under the same bearing conditions.
2. Flexible and varied design styles: with the same beam height, the span of steel structures can be increased by 50% compared to concrete structures, making building layouts more flexible.
3. Light self-weight: compared to concrete structures, steel structures have a lighter self-weight, reducing structural design internal forces and lowering foundation requirements, making construction easier and reducing costs.
4. High structural stability: steel structures primarily made of hot-rolled H-beams are scientifically reasonable, with good plasticity and flexibility, high structural stability, and suitable for building structures that bear large vibration and impact loads. They have strong resistance to natural disasters and are particularly suitable for building structures in earthquake-prone areas. According to statistics, during catastrophic earthquakes of magnitude 7 or higher worldwide, steel structures primarily made of H-beams suffered the least damage.
5. Increased effective use of space: compared to concrete structures, steel structure column cross-sectional area is smaller, thereby increasing the effective use of building space. Depending on the different forms of construction, this can increase effective use of space by 4-6%.
6. Reduced labor and material costs: compared to welded H-beams, steel structures made of H-beams can significantly reduce labor and material costs, reduce consumption of raw materials, energy, and labor, have low residual stress, and have good appearance and surface quality.
7. Easy mechanical processing: easy to connect and install structurally, as well as easy to dismantle and reuse.
8. Environmentally friendly: using H-beams can effectively protect the environment. Specifically, it produces less noise and dust than concrete when dry construction is used; reduced foundation construction reduces soil erosion and opens up ecological environments; and after the building structure’s service life ends, solid waste is minimal, and the high value of recycled steel resources can be realized.
9. High degree of industrialized production: Steel structures primarily made of hot-rolled H-beams have a high degree of industrialized production, making it easy for mechanical manufacturing, producing high accuracy, easy installation, and easy quality assurance. They can create true home factories, bridge factories, and industrial plant factories, driving the development of hundreds of emerging industries.
10. Fast construction speed: Steel structures primarily made of hot-rolled H-beams have a small footprint and are suitable for all-weather construction, with little impact from weather conditions. The construction speed of steel structures made of H-beams is about 2-3 times faster than concrete structures, increasing capital turnover and lowering financial costs, thereby saving investment.

Difference Between H-Beam and I-Beam

The cross-sectional dimensions of the I-beam are relatively high and narrow, resulting in a large difference in the moments of inertia of the two main flanges of the section.

Therefore, it can only be used for components that are bent within its web plane or as a lattice-like load-bearing component. It is not suitable for axial compression members or components bent perpendicular to the web plane, which greatly limits its application range.

H-beam belongs to efficient economic sectional steel (other types include cold-formed thin-walled steel, pressure-formed steel plates, etc.). Due to the reasonable section shape, they can make steel more efficient and improve bearing capacity.

Unlike ordinary I-beams, H-beams have widened flanges, and their inner and outer surfaces are usually parallel, making it easy to connect with high-strength bolts and other components.

Their size series is reasonable, and the models are complete, making it easy for designers to choose.

The flanges of H-beams are of equal thickness, with rolled sections and composite sections made up of three plates welded together.

I-beams are all rolled sections, and due to differences in production processes, the inner edges of the flanges have a 1:10 slope. T

he rolling process of H-beams is different from that of ordinary I-beams, which only use a set of horizontal rolls.

Because the flanges of H-beams are wider and have no inclination (or a small inclination), an additional set of vertical rolls must be added to perform simultaneous rolling, making the rolling process and equipment more complex.

The largest hot-rolled H-beam height produced domestically is 800mm, exceeding this limit results in composite sections.

According to GB/T11263-1998, China’s national standard for hot-rolled H-beams, H-beams are divided into narrow-flange, wide-flange, and pile types, with the codes hz, hk, and hu, respectively.

Narrow-flange H-beams are suitable for beams or compressive bent components, while wide-flange H-beams and H-piles are suitable for axial compression members or compressive bent components.

Compared with I-beams, H-beams have lower w, ix, iy values under the same weight premise.

H Beam Weight Calculator

Note:

You can use our millimeters to inches calculator to determine the sizes of H-beams in inches.

H Beam Size and Weight Chart

H Beam Size Chart PDF Download: Obtain the Sizes and Weight Chart for H Beam Steel

Related reading:

• H Beam Weight Calculator
• I Beam Weight Calculator

Method of H-beam Production

H-beams can be produced by two methods: welding or rolling.

Welded H-beams are cut from properly-thickened strips into appropriate widths and then welded together on a continuous welding unit. Welded H-beams have disadvantages such as high metal consumption, difficulty in ensuring uniform product performance, and limited size specifications.

Therefore, the production of H-beams is mainly by rolling method. In modern rolling steel production, universal rolling machines are used to roll H-beams.

The web of the H-beam is rolled between horizontal rollers, while the flange is simultaneously rolled into shape between the side of the horizontal roller and the vertical roller.

Since the universal rolling machine alone cannot press down the edges of the flange, a(edited) flank edge rolling machine, commonly known as an edge rolling machine, needs to be set up behind the universal machine frame to press down the edges of the flange and control its width.

In actual rolling operations, these two stands are used as a set to repeatedly pass the rolled product through several times (Figure 2a), or the rolled product is passed through a rolling mill consisting of several universal machine stands and one or two edge rolling machine stands.

A certain amount of reduction is applied in each pass to roll the blank into the required specification shape and size of the product.

Due to the sliding between the side surface of the horizontal roller and the rolled product, the wear of the rolling mill’s roller is relatively large in the flange area of the rolled product.

To ensure that the heavy-duty roller can restore its original shape, the side surfaces of the upper and lower horizontal rollers of the rough rolling unit and the corresponding vertical roller surface should have a tilt angle of 3° to 8°.

To correct the inclination angle of the finished product flange, a finished product universal rolling machine is set up, also known as a universal precision rolling machine.

Its horizontal roller side surface is perpendicular to the horizontal roller axis or has a small inclination angle, generally not more than 20′, and its vertical roller is cylindrical (Figure 2d).

• a – Universal reversible continuous rolling mill with edge rolling unit.
  b – Universal roughing pass.
  c – Edge rolling pass.
  d – Universal finishing pass.
• 1 – Universal rolling mill.
  2 – Edge rolling unit.
  3 – Vertical roll.
  4 – Horizontal bar.

Using a universal rolling machine to roll H-beams can obtain a more uniform extension of the cross-section of the rolled product.

The speed difference between the inner and outer sides of the flange of the rolled product is small, which can reduce the internal stress and shape defects of the product.

By properly changing the pressure of the horizontal roller and the vertical roller of the universal rolling machine, different specifications of H-beams can be obtained.

The outer shape of the rolling mill roller of the universal rolling machine is simple in shape and long in service life, and the consumption of the rolling mill roller can be greatly reduced.

The greatest advantage of using a universal rolling machine to roll H-beams is that the thickness and size of only the web and flange vary in the same size series, and the sizes of other parts are fixed and unchanged.

Therefore, the same series of H-beams rolled with the same universal hole type have multiple specifications of web and flange thicknesses, which greatly increases the number of H-beam specifications and brings great convenience to users to choose suitable size specifications.

In the absence of a universal rolling machine, in order to meet the urgent needs of production construction, a common two-roller rolling machine can sometimes be retrofitted with a vertical roller frame to form a universal-type hole rolling machine for rolling H-beams.

When rolled in this way, the product size accuracy is low, the flange is difficult to form a right angle with the web, the cost is high, the specifications are few, and it is extremely difficult to roll H-beams with cylindrical materials, so there are not many users.

H Beam Rust Removal Method

(1) New method of H-beam rust removal and rust prevention:

The present invention relates to a steel rust removal and rust prevention method.

This invention uses a rust removal and rust prevention solution composed of phosphoric acid, silicate cement, and water glass for steel rust removal and rust prevention, which has a fast rust removal speed and good effect.

After rust removal, a stable “primer” layer can be generated on the surface of the steel.

The rust resistance time of steel components after rust removal is 2 months under outdoor conditions and 6-12 months in indoor conditions without moisture.

The cost is low, easy to operate, non-polluting, and 30 times more efficient than manual rust removal. It also has multiple functions and is an ideal new method for steel rust removal and rust prevention.

(2) Formula for steel rust removal solution:

The formula for an H-beam steel rust removal solution is mainly composed of hydrochloric acid, with formaldehyde as a corrosion inhibitor, industrial sodium chloride or ammonium chloride as a peeling agent, and octylphenol polyoxyethylene ether as a penetrating agent and solubilizer, other than for water.

The rust removal solution prepared with this formula is easy to use at room temperature, has a fast rust removal speed, and the steel and components after rust removal have no corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement, smooth surface, and no reduction in mechanical strength.

The rust removal solution prepared with this formula can continue to be used as long as hydrochloric acid or a certain aid is appropriately added after using for a period of time.

Therefore, the service life is long, the wastewater discharge times are few, the cost is low, and it is easy to manage “three wastes.”

(3) High-efficiency rust removal and rust prevention agent:

A rust removal and rust prevention agent used for H-beam treatment is composed of phosphoric acid, aluminum hydroxide, zinc phosphate, animal glue, alum, citric acid, ethanol, ortho-toluidine thiourea, octylphenol ethoxylate ether, and water.

The rust removal speed is fast, the rust removal surface quality is high, and it can self-dry to form a film. The film is tough and dense with strong adhesion to the metal matrix and can be used as a primer layer.

The rust prevention of H-beam after treatment can reach more than one year and has good adhesion with coatings and plating.

This invention has low cost, simple and safe preparation, good rust prevention effect, and no “three wastes” pollution. It can be widely used in the pretreatment of H-beam coating.

(4) Room temperature high-efficiency oil and rust removal cleaning agent:

The present invention belongs to a room temperature high-efficiency oil and rust removal cleaning agent.

Currently, people adopt a two-step process of oil removal and then rust removal in the production and processing of H-beams and surface treatment process, making the process complicated, difficult, slow, and efficiency low.

The present invention develops a room temperature high-efficiency oil and rust removal cleaning agent using a combination of surfactants and sulfuric acid.

It uses a one-step process for oil and rust removal, greatly reducing the processing procedures, significantly improving work efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and has the advantages of wide use, less investment, and high benefits.

FAQs

1. What is the size of steel H beams?

Steel H beams come in a wide range of sizes, with a web thickness typically ranging from 5 mm to 20 mm and flange width varying between 50 mm and 500 mm. The depth of the beam can range from 100 mm to 1000 mm or even more, depending on the application and structural requirements. There are various international standards that dictate the size ranges, such as the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and the European Standard (EN).

2. How do you read H-beam dimensions?

H-beam dimensions are typically represented as height (H) x width (W) x web thickness (t1) x flange thickness (t2). For example, a beam with dimensions 200x100x5.5×8 would have a height of 200 mm, width of 100 mm, web thickness of 5.5 mm, and flange thickness of 8 mm.

3. Which is cheaper: I-beam or H-beam?

The cost of I-beams and H-beams can vary depending on material, size, and region. However, generally speaking, I-beams tend to be less expensive due to their simpler manufacturing process and less material used compared to H-beams.

4. What is the advantage of H-beam?

H-beams have several advantages over other structural shapes, such as greater strength, more uniform distribution of load, and better resistance to bending and shear forces. This makes them suitable for use in larger and more complex structures where higher load-bearing capacity is required.

5. Are taller beams stronger?

Taller beams can be stronger in resisting bending forces, but their strength also depends on factors such as material, cross-sectional shape, and overall design. A well-designed, shorter beam can sometimes be stronger than a taller one, depending on these factors.

6. Can you join two steel beams together?

Yes, steel beams can be joined together using various methods, such as welding, bolting, or riveting. The choice of method will depend on the specific requirements of the project and the expertise of the fabricator.

7. How much weight can an H beam support?

The weight an H beam can support depends on various factors, including its size, material, and the specific loading conditions. To determine the weight-bearing capacity of a particular H beam, engineers use structural analysis methods and consult relevant design codes.

8. What is the strongest steel beam shape?

The strongest steel beam shape depends on the specific application and loading conditions. In general, H-beams and I-beams are considered to be among the strongest shapes due to their efficient use of material and resistance to bending and shear forces. However, other shapes like box (rectangular hollow section) or circular hollow section beams can also be very strong, depending on the design and application.