Section Property Calculator

Full engineering properties for standard structural steel sections — area, inertia, section modulus, and radius of gyration.

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ℹ Results are for reference only. Verify against current standards before use in design.

About This Section Properties Calculator

This tool computes the key cross-sectional properties of standard structural steel sections — including second moment of area (I), elastic section modulus (W), plastic section modulus (Z), and radius of gyration (i) — directly from the published geometric dimensions. All values are derived from first principles and cross-referenced against EN 10025-2, IS 808:2021, ASTM A6/A6M, and API 5L.

Key Properties Explained

Second Moment of Area (Iy, Iz): Measures a section's resistance to bending about a given axis. Expressed in cm⁴ or mm⁴. For an I-section, Iy = (b·h³ − (b−tw)·(h−2tf)³) / 12, where h is total depth, b is flange width, tw is web thickness, and tf is flange thickness.

Elastic Section Modulus (Wel): Defined as Wel = I / ymax, where ymax is the distance from the neutral axis to the extreme fibre. Used to determine the elastic bending capacity Mel,Rd = Wel · fy / γM0 per EN 1993-1-1.

Plastic Section Modulus (Wpl): The sum of first moments of area of each half-section about the plastic neutral axis. Governs the full plastic moment capacity Mpl,Rd = Wpl · fy / γM0. Available for IS 808:2021 sections per the revised standard.

Radius of Gyration (i): Defined as i = √(I / A), where A is cross-sectional area in cm². Used to compute the slenderness ratio λ = Lcr / i for column buckling checks per EN 1993-1-1 and IS 800:2007.

All section data is sourced from EN 10025-2 (European hot-rolled structural steel), IS 808:2021 (Indian hot-rolled sections), ASTM A6/A6M (American standard sections), and BS 4-1:2005 (British universal beams and columns). Data is for reference only — verify against the current revision of the applicable standard before use in structural design.