This steel weight calculator will help you determine the weight of steel pieces of any size, whether rods, bars, or plates. We built this calculator to work with a variety of steel types, so you’ll get the steel weight you need.
Why do we need to get the weight of steel?
In the construction industry, we commonly price steel per unit weight, similar to other raw materials like gravel, sand, and concrete. Since steel is available in various types, shapes, and sizes, pricing steel per unit weight would mean much more consistent pricing across the market. This way of pricing is why it is essential to know the weight of steel in general.
Other than that, determining the total weight of steel products is generally beneficial, especially during transport. Buying in bulk affects the cost of most materials as we can save money by adequately organizing delivery and logistics instead of delivering small quantities on multiple trips. Aside from that, since steel can get really heavy in large volumes, calculating the steel weight is essential in the design of structures.
Steel weight calculator — How to calculate weight of steel
Determining the weight of steel only takes a few steps to accomplish. First, we need to know the density of the steel alloy we are using. In our steel weight calculator, you will find the density values for each of the most common steel alloys listed in our calculator’s Steel type part. You can also see them listed here in the table below:
Steel type | Density (kg/m³) |
---|---|
Tool steel | 7715 |
Wrought iron | 7750 |
Carbon tool steel | 7820 |
Cold-drawn steel | 7830 |
Carbon steel | 7840 |
C1020 HR steel | 7850 |
Pure iron | 7860 |
Mild steel | 7870 |
Stainless steel | 8030 |
After determining the density of the steel alloy, the next step is to obtain the total volume of our steel material. Getting the volume of our steel material depends on its shape and dimensions. By applying the necessary formulas, we can obtain the volume for rods, bars, plates, tubes, and even other complicated shapes. After obtaining the volume of steel material, we are now ready to use the formula below:
where:
- 𝑊s is the steel material’s weight;
- 𝑉s is the volume of the steel material; and
- densitysteel alloy is the density of the steel alloy.
When using this formula, always make sure to multiply values with the same units of measurement. The resulting unit of measure of the volume must match the volume part in the density unit.
If you have multiple steel pieces, you can input the number of steel pieces into our steel weight calculator to get the overall steel weight. As an exercise in finding the weight of steel, let us look at an example in this text’s next section.