Hot-rolled steel sections with an I, H or U profile, used as beams, columns and secondary members in buildings, bridges, industrial plants and machinery. They are rolled from blooms or beam blanks to series standardised by depth and weight per metre — IPE, HE, UB/UC and W in Europe, the UK and the USA.
Also called
I-beams
H-beams
IPE
HEA / HEB
Universal beams (UB)
Wide flange (W)
U-channels
UPN / UPE
Joists
Girders
AR
كمرات وجسور وقنوات فولاذية
ZH
工字钢、H型钢和槽钢
DE
Träger, U-Profile und Stützen
FR
Poutrelles, profilés U et colonnes
ES
Vigas, perfiles U y columnas
IT
Travi, profilati a U e colonne
TR
I profil, H profil ve U profil
RU
Балки, швеллеры и колонны
Main formsI-beams (IPE, IPN, UB, W, S), H-sections and columns (HEA, HEB, HEM, UC, HP), U-channels (UPN, UPE, PFC, C)
Typical sizesDepth 80–1,100 mm; mass about 6–1,000 kg/m; stock lengths 6, 12 and 15 m
Main standardsEN 10365, EN 10034, EN 10025-2, BS 4-1, ASTM A6 / A992, JIS G3192, GB/T 11263
A beam carries load across a span by bending; a column carries it down by compression. Both are made most efficiently as an I or H shape, which puts most of the steel in the flanges, as far as possible from the axis it bends about. Channels — U-shaped sections — are used for lighter beams, bracing, purlins, frames and fabrication where one flat back is useful.
Sections are hot rolled in a universal mill from blooms, beam blanks or (in an electric arc furnace route) near-net-shape cast blanks. A universal mill rolls the web and both flanges at once, which gives the parallel-flange sections — IPE, HE, UB, UC and W — that replaced the older taper-flange joists (IPN, S shapes) for most structural work.
Each region standardises its own series. In Europe the IPE series is the general-purpose I-beam and the HE series (HEA light, HEB standard, HEM heavy) the wide-flange H-section; in the UK the universal beam (UB) and universal column (UC); in the USA and much of the Americas the wide-flange W shape. All are specified by depth and mass per metre, for example IPE 300, HEB 200, UB 457×191×67 or W12×26.
In the GCC most structural steelwork is designed to European, British or American codes, so all three families are stocked, often side by side. Sections are rolled in the region by mills such as Emirates Steel (UAE) and SULB (Bahrain), and imported in large volumes from Europe, Turkey, China and the Far East. MESteel publishes a weekly EXW UAE beam price and monthly import prices for EN and UB/UC sections.
Forms & sizes
The designation names the series and the nominal depth in millimetres (IPE 300, HEA 240), or the depth, width and mass (UB 457×191×67), or the depth in inches and the mass in lb/ft (W12×26). Mass per metre is what you pay for and what decides the price per piece.
IPE
European parallel-flange I-beam, 80–600 mm deep, plus IPE 750; IPE A lighter and IPE O heavier variants
HEA / HEB / HEM
European wide-flange H-sections, 100–1,000 mm; HEB is the standard weight, HEA lighter, HEM heaviest
IPN
European taper-flange I-beam (the old standard joist), 80–600 mm
UPN / UPE / UAP
European channels: UPN with tapered flanges, UPE and UAP with parallel flanges
UB / UC / PFC
British universal beams, universal columns and parallel-flange channels to BS 4-1
W / HP / S / C
American wide-flange beams, bearing piles, standard I-beams and channels to ASTM A6
Lengths
6 m and 12 m are the usual stock lengths; mills roll to order in lengths up to about 18–24 m
The series and size exactly as written in the standard — IPE 300, HEB 200, UB 457×191×67, W12×26 — and the dimensional standard (EN 10365, BS 4-1, ASTM A6, JIS G3192).
The steel grade and its standard, with the impact-test quality where the design needs one (S355J2, not just S355).
Length per piece and the length tolerance; cut-to-length, or random lengths within a range.
Quantity by weight and by number of pieces — a mill's actual mass per metre can differ from nominal within the standard's tolerance.
Surface condition (EN 10163-3 class and subclass), and any shot-blasting and priming, or galvanizing.
An EN 10204 3.1 inspection certificate, or 3.2 where a third party must witness the tests; CE marking (EN 1090) for European projects.
Packing in bundles with marking on each piece, and loading as break-bulk or in open-top containers.
Quality checks
Check the heat number on each piece against the mill certificate.
Measure depth, flange width, web and flange thickness and straightness against the tolerance standard (EN 10034, ASTM A6).
Weigh a sample of pieces: mass per metre outside tolerance is the most common claim.
Look for laminations, seams and rolled-in scale on the flanges, and for twist and out-of-square flanges on long pieces.
Confirm the yield, tensile and impact values on the certificate meet the grade, and that the chemistry gives a carbon equivalent the fabricator can weld.
Steel Mills - Agents & Traders · Stockist - Distributor · Base Materials · Dubai
