SHS 20×20×2.5 - Section Properties

SHS 20×20×2.5 has a mass of 1.35 kg/m, tabulated to EN 10219. A 12 m length therefore weighs about 16 kg, which is the figure to use for a steel take-off or when checking a lift.

SHS 20×20×2.5 has a depth of 20 mm, a width of 20 mm, a wall thickness of 2.5 mm, with a cross-sectional area of 1.68 cm². These are the nominal dimensions from EN 10219; rolling tolerances apply to the delivered section.

The plastic section modulus about the major axis, Wpl,y, is 1.08 cm³, and the elastic modulus Wel,y is 0.835 cm³. Wpl,y is what sets the moment capacity of a Class 1 or 2 section: M_pl,Rd = Wpl,y x f_y / gamma_M0, so at S355 with gamma_M0 = 1.0 this section reaches about 0 kNm before any stability check.

The second moment of area about the major axis, Iy, is 0.835 cm⁴, and about the minor axis Iz is 0.835 cm⁴. Iy is the value deflection depends on - for a simply supported beam under a uniform load, the midspan deflection is 5wL⁴/384EIy - so on spans where a deflection limit governs rather than strength, this is the number that decides the section.

iy is 0.705 cm about the major axis and iz is 0.705 cm about the minor axis. Column buckling is governed by the SMALLER value: the slenderness is lambda = L_cr / i, so with iz = 0.705 cm a 0.1 m effective length already gives lambda = 100. Minor-axis buckling almost always controls unless the weak axis is restrained.

The St Venant torsion constant It is 1.41 cm⁴. Closed sections carry torsion in a shear flow around the perimeter, which makes them far stiffer in torsion than an open section of the same weight and is usually why one is specified.