Sheet and Flat Bar Sections: Mass of 1 m² and 1 m

Mass of 1 m² of sheet by thickness

A steel sheet 1 mm thick has a mass of 7.85 kg per square metre. So the mass of 1 m² is the thickness in millimetres times 7.85: for 5 mm it is 39.25 kg. The “m² per tonne” column gives the reverse: a tonne of 3 mm sheet covers about 42 m².

The second table lists hot-rolled sheet with its sizes and the mass of a whole sheet. The mass of a sheet is the mass of 1 m² times its area.

Steel sheet: mass of 1 m² by thickness · ГОСТ 19903-74

The mass of 1 m² is calculated as 7.85 kg per millimetre of thickness (steel density 7850 kg/m³).

Hot-rolled steel sheet · ДСТУ 8540:2015

An asterisk marks thicknesses of 2–8 mm. According to the source of the range, sheet up to 8 mm thick made of S245 steel is allowed in group 1 structures under DBN V.2.6-198:2014, table G.1. The size is given as sheet width × length; the sheet mass is theoretical.

Checker plate and expanded metal

Checker plate has a lentil-shaped pattern on its surface, so it is heavier than plain sheet of the same thickness. For 4 mm plain sheet gives 31.4 kg/m² and checker plate 34.4 kg/m²; for 6 mm the difference is the same 3 kg (47.1 and 50.1 kg/m²). A 4 mm checker plate of 1250×4000 mm weighs 172 kg.

Expanded metal is not solid but a mesh with slits cut into it, so 1 m² is lighter. For the four sizes in the table it is 12.9 to 21.9 kg/m², less than even the thinnest checker plate in the table (26.6 kg/m²). A sheet of size 608 measuring 1000×2000 mm weighs 43.8 kg.

Steel checker plate with lentil pattern · ДСТУ 8783:2018

The size is sheet width × length, mm; the sheet mass is theoretical.

Expanded metal sheet

The first column is the designation of the expanded metal size.

Flat bar: mass of 1 m by width and thickness

Flat bar is a long flat section. The mass of 1 m is width times thickness (mm²) times 7.85 · 10⁻³ kg/m; it is easier to take the ready figure from the table.

Rows of the table are widths, columns are thicknesses. A “–” means the range has no such size: for a width of 20 mm there are thicknesses of 4 mm and 7 to 10 mm, but not 5 or 6 mm.

Hot-rolled steel flat bar: mass of 1 m, kg · ГОСТ 103-76

Mass of 1 m in kilograms; width in mm (rows), thickness in mm (columns).

Worked examples

A 6 mm sheet of 1500×6000 mm: 47.1 kg/m² × 9 m² = 423.9 kg. A 10 mm sheet of 2000×6000 mm weighs 942 kg, which is 78.5 kg/m² over 12 m².

A 40×6 mm flat bar weighs 1.88 kg per metre. A six-metre length is about 11.3 kg, and a tonne of this bar is about 531 m (1000 divided by 1.884).

All values are theoretical, for nominal sizes. The actual mass depends on rolling tolerances, so check the supplier’s documents for accounting.

Where sheet and flat bar are used

Plain sheet goes into gusset plates, base plates, cladding and blanks for bending. Checker plate is laid where people walk: platforms, stairs, floors. Expanded metal makes gratings, guards and screens.

Flat bar frames panels and makes gussets, clamps and cover plates. The POLYGONAL company cuts sheet parts by laser and plasma and bends them on a 2000 t press.

Calculator and ordering

For sizes outside the tables use the rolled metal calculator, and look for other rolled products in the handbook. Need sheet and bar as part of a structure? Send a drawing or a specification: the POLYGONAL company makes steel structures to the customer’s drawings and galvanizes the finished products.