Steel Beam Size Chart: HEA, HEB, HEM, IPE, UPN, W and UB Sections

This chart lists the dimensions of the European, American, British and Chinese steel sections most often sent to our H-beam laser cutting machines. Every row shows whether the section fits the standard H-beam laser, which takes sections up to 1,000 mm high and 12 m long.

At a glance

HEA, HEB and HEM are the light, standard and heavy European H-beam series to EN 10365; HEA 300 is 290 mm deep, HEB 300 is 300 mm, HEM 300 is 340 mm.
W shapes are named by nominal depth in inches and weight in lb/ft (W14x90); UB and UC by depth x width x kg/m (UB 610x229x101).
Chinese H-beams to GB/T 11263 are HW (wide), HM (medium), HN (narrow) and HT (thin-walled) flange.
The PCL H-beam laser (12, 20 or 30 kW) takes sections up to 1,000 mm high and 12 m long, which covers every HEA, HEB and IPE size and all HEM sizes except HEM 1000.

Check a section

Type a size, for example HEB 300, IPE 400 or W14x90

How section names work

Each standard writes the size in its own way. The European names give a series and a nominal size. The American and British names describe depth and weight. The Chinese names spell out all four dimensions.

Name	Standard	How to read it	Example
HEA / HEB / HEM	EN 10365	Wide flange H-beam. A light, B standard, M heavy. Number = nominal size in mm.	HEB 300: 300 x 300 mm
IPE	EN 10365	Parallel flange I-beam, flange about half the depth.	IPE 400: 400 x 180 mm
UPN	EN 10365	Channel with tapered inner flange faces. UPE is the parallel flange version.	UPN 200: 200 x 75 mm
W	ASTM A6 / AISC Manual	Wide flange. Nominal depth in inches x weight in lb/ft.	W14x90
UB / UC	BS 4-1	Universal beam / column. Depth x width (mm) x mass (kg/m).	UB 610x229x101
HW / HM / HN / HT	GB/T 11263	Wide, medium, narrow flange, thin-walled. Height x width x web x flange (mm).	HW 100x100x6x8

h = section height, b = flange width, t_w = web thickness, t_f = flange thickness. European, American and British sections are rolled to different tables, so treat any “equivalent” as an approximation and compare the actual dimensions.

European sections (EN 10365)

HEA dimensions

HEA is the light H-beam series. From HEA 300 upward the flange stays 300 mm wide while the depth increases.

Size	h mm	b mm	t_w mm	t_f mm	Mass kg/m	Laser cut
HEA 100	96	100	5	8	16.7	Yes
HEA 120	114	120	5	8	19.9	Yes
HEA 140	133	140	5.5	8.5	24.7	Yes
HEA 160	152	160	6	9	30.4	Yes
HEA 180	171	180	6	9.5	35.5	Yes
HEA 200	190	200	6.5	10	42.3	Yes
HEA 220	210	220	7	11	50.5	Yes
HEA 240	230	240	7.5	12	60.3	Yes
HEA 260	250	260	7.5	12.5	68.2	Yes
HEA 280	270	280	8	13	76.4	Yes
HEA 300	290	300	8.5	14	88.3	Yes
HEA 320	310	300	9	15.5	97.6	Yes
HEA 340	330	300	9.5	16.5	105	Yes
HEA 360	350	300	10	17.5	112	Yes
HEA 400	390	300	11	19	125	Yes
HEA 450	440	300	11.5	21	140	Yes
HEA 500	490	300	12	23	155	Yes
HEA 550	540	300	12.5	24	166	Yes
HEA 600	590	300	13	25	178	Yes
HEA 650	640	300	13.5	26	190	Yes
HEA 700	690	300	14.5	27	204	Yes
HEA 800	790	300	15	28	224	Yes
HEA 900	890	300	16	30	252	Yes
HEA 1000	990	300	16.5	31	272	Yes

HEB dimensions

HEB is the standard series and the most common column section in European steel frames.

Size	h mm	b mm	t_w mm	t_f mm	Mass kg/m	Laser cut
HEB 100	100	100	6	10	20.4	Yes
HEB 120	120	120	6.5	11	26.7	Yes
HEB 140	140	140	7	12	33.7	Yes
HEB 160	160	160	8	13	42.6	Yes
HEB 180	180	180	8.5	14	51.2	Yes
HEB 200	200	200	9	15	61.3	Yes
HEB 220	220	220	9.5	16	71.5	Yes
HEB 240	240	240	10	17	83.2	Yes
HEB 260	260	260	10	17.5	93	Yes
HEB 280	280	280	10.5	18	103	Yes
HEB 300	300	300	11	19	117	Yes
HEB 320	320	300	11.5	20.5	127	Yes
HEB 340	340	300	12	21.5	134	Yes
HEB 360	360	300	12.5	22.5	142	Yes
HEB 400	400	300	13.5	24	155	Yes
HEB 450	450	300	14	26	171	Yes
HEB 500	500	300	14.5	28	187	Yes
HEB 550	550	300	15	29	199	Yes
HEB 600	600	300	15.5	30	212	Yes
HEB 650	650	300	16	31	225	Yes
HEB 700	700	300	17	32	241	Yes
HEB 800	800	300	17.5	33	262	Yes
HEB 900	900	300	18.5	35	291	Yes
HEB 1000	1000	300	19	36	314	Yes

HEM dimensions

HEM is the heavy series. Its real depth is larger than the nominal size, so HEM 1000 is 1,008 mm deep and needs a check against the machine range.

Size	h mm	b mm	t_w mm	t_f mm	Mass kg/m	Laser cut
HEM 100	120	106	12	20	41.8	Yes
HEM 120	140	126	12.5	21	52.1	Yes
HEM 140	160	146	13	22	63.2	Yes
HEM 160	180	166	14	23	76.2	Yes
HEM 180	200	186	14.5	24	88.9	Yes
HEM 200	220	206	15	25	103	Yes
HEM 220	240	226	15.5	26	117	Yes
HEM 240	270	248	18	32	157	Yes
HEM 260	290	268	18	32.5	172	Yes
HEM 280	310	288	18.5	33	189	Yes
HEM 300	340	310	21	39	238	Yes
HEM 320	359	309	21	40	245	Yes
HEM 340	377	309	21	40	248	Yes
HEM 360	395	308	21	40	250	Yes
HEM 400	432	307	21	40	256	Yes
HEM 450	478	307	21	40	263	Yes
HEM 500	524	306	21	40	270	Yes
HEM 550	572	306	21	40	278	Yes
HEM 600	620	305	21	40	285	Yes
HEM 650	668	305	21	40	293	Yes
HEM 700	716	304	21	40	301	Yes
HEM 800	814	303	21	40	317	Yes
HEM 900	910	302	21	40	333	Yes
HEM 1000	1008	302	21	40	349	Ask us

IPE dimensions

IPE beams are the usual choice for floor beams and rafters.

Size	h mm	b mm	t_w mm	t_f mm	Mass kg/m	Laser cut
IPE 80	80	46	3.8	5.2	6	Yes
IPE 100	100	55	4.1	5.7	8.1	Yes
IPE 120	120	64	4.4	6.3	10.4	Yes
IPE 140	140	73	4.7	6.9	12.9	Yes
IPE 160	160	82	5	7.4	15.8	Yes
IPE 180	180	91	5.3	8	18.8	Yes
IPE 200	200	100	5.6	8.5	22.4	Yes
IPE 220	220	110	5.9	9.2	26.2	Yes
IPE 240	240	120	6.2	9.8	30.7	Yes
IPE 270	270	135	6.6	10.2	36.1	Yes
IPE 300	300	150	7.1	10.7	42.2	Yes
IPE 330	330	160	7.5	11.5	49.1	Yes
IPE 360	360	170	8	12.7	57.1	Yes
IPE 400	400	180	8.6	13.5	66.3	Yes
IPE 450	450	190	9.4	14.6	77.6	Yes
IPE 500	500	200	10.2	16	90.7	Yes
IPE 550	550	210	11.1	17.2	106	Yes
IPE 600	600	220	12	19	122	Yes

UPN dimensions

Size	h mm	b mm	t_w mm	t_f mm	Mass kg/m	Laser cut
UPN 80	80	45	6	8	8.64	Yes
UPN 100	100	50	6	8.5	10.6	Yes
UPN 120	120	55	7	9	13.4	Yes
UPN 140	140	60	7	10	16	Yes
UPN 160	160	65	7.5	10.5	18.8	Yes
UPN 180	180	70	8	11	22	Yes
UPN 200	200	75	8.5	11.5	25.3	Yes
UPN 220	220	80	9	12.5	29.4	Yes
UPN 240	240	85	9.5	13	33.2	Yes
UPN 260	260	90	10	14	37.9	Yes
UPN 280	280	95	10	15	41.8	Yes
UPN 300	300	100	10	16	46.2	Yes
UPN 320	320	100	14	17.5	59.5	Yes
UPN 350	350	100	14	16	60.6	Yes
UPN 380	380	102	13.5	16	63.1	Yes
UPN 400	400	110	14	18	71.8	Yes

American W shapes

Dimensions in inches with millimetres below. The W series has several hundred sizes; the rows below are common sizes across the range. Check the actual depth d against the 1,000 mm (39.4 in) limit: most W shapes up to W36 fit, while the heaviest W36 and the W40 and W44 series need a check with us.

Size	d in	b_f in	t_w in	t_f in	Laser cut
W8x31	8.00 203 mm	8.00 203 mm	0.29 7.4 mm	0.44 11.2 mm	Yes
W10x49	9.98 253 mm	10.00 254 mm	0.34 8.6 mm	0.56 14.2 mm	Yes
W12x65	12.10 307 mm	12.00 305 mm	0.39 9.9 mm	0.61 15.5 mm	Yes
W14x90	14.00 356 mm	14.50 368 mm	0.44 11.2 mm	0.71 18.0 mm	Yes
W14x120	14.50 368 mm	14.70 373 mm	0.59 15.0 mm	0.94 23.9 mm	Yes
W16x40	16.00 406 mm	7.00 178 mm	0.31 7.9 mm	0.51 13.0 mm	Yes
W18x50	18.00 457 mm	7.50 190 mm	0.36 9.1 mm	0.57 14.5 mm	Yes
W21x62	21.00 533 mm	8.24 209 mm	0.40 10.2 mm	0.62 15.7 mm	Yes
W24x76	23.90 607 mm	9.00 229 mm	0.44 11.2 mm	0.68 17.3 mm	Yes
W27x94	26.90 683 mm	10.00 254 mm	0.49 12.4 mm	0.75 19.0 mm	Yes

British UB and UC sections

Representative universal beams. Universal columns (UC) follow the same naming, with depth and width close to each other, for example UC 305x305x118.

Size	Depth mm	Width mm	Web mm	Mass kg/m	Laser cut
UB 203x133x25	203.2	133.2	5.7	25.1	Yes
UB 305x165x40	303.4	165	6	40.3	Yes
UB 406x178x60	406.4	177.9	7.9	60.1	Yes
UB 533x210x92	533.1	209.3	10.1	92.1	Yes
UB 610x229x101	602.6	227.6	10.5	101.2	Yes

Chinese H-beams (GB/T 11263)

Chinese mills group H-beams by flange width relative to height:

HW: wide flange, width close to height. Used for columns. Example HW 100x100x6x8, 16.9 kg/m.
HM: medium flange. Used for columns and heavy beams.
HN: narrow flange, width roughly a third to half of the height. Used for beams.
HT: thin-walled sections, for example HT 95x48x3.2×4.5, 5.98 kg/m.

The standard table goes up to 1,008 x 302 x 21 x 40 mm, the same envelope as HEM 1000. Japanese JIS sections use the same height x width x web x flange format.

What this means for laser cutting

Section height decides whether a beam fits, flange thickness decides cutting speed and bevel quality. The 20 kW configuration cuts carbon steel up to 40 mm, which covers the flanges of every section on this page. For coping, weld access holes and bevels on these sections, see the H-beam laser cutting machine and weld access hole and coping guide.

Questions

What do HEA, HEB and HEM mean?

They are the three weight series of European wide flange H-beams. HEA is the light series, HEB the standard series and HEM the heavy series. The number is the nominal size, so an HEA 300 is 290 mm deep, an HEB 300 is 300 mm deep and an HEM 300 is 340 mm deep.

Is HEB 300 the same as a W12 beam?

No. European and American sections are rolled to different tables, so there is no exact one-to-one match. Compare the depth, flange width and flange thickness of the two sections, then check the design with your engineer.

What is the difference between IPE and IPN?

IPE beams have parallel flanges and a narrow, light profile. IPN beams are the older standard I-beams with tapered inner flange faces. Most new building steel in Europe uses IPE or HE sections.

How do I read a W14x90 designation?

W means wide flange. 14 is the nominal depth in inches and 90 is the weight in pounds per foot. A W14x90 is about 14 in (356 mm) deep with a 14.5 in (369 mm) flange.

How are British UB and UC sections named?

UB is a universal beam and UC a universal column. The three numbers are the serial depth and width in millimetres and the mass in kg/m. UB 610x229x101 is about 603 mm deep, 228 mm wide and weighs 101 kg/m.

What do HW, HM and HN mean in Chinese H-beam sizes?

Under GB/T 11263, HW is wide flange, HM medium flange, HN narrow flange and HT thin-walled. Sizes are written height x width x web thickness x flange thickness, for example HW 100x100x6x8.

What is the largest beam your laser cutting machine can process?

The standard H-beam laser cutting machine (12, 20 or 30 kW) takes H, I and channel sections up to 1,000 mm high and angles up to 800 mm leg length, with 12 m effective cutting length. Larger sections can be built to order.

Dimensions follow EN 10365, ASTM A6, BS 4-1 and GB/T 11263. Values are nominal; confirm against your mill certificate before cutting.

Send your section list for a cutting check