FB 12×180 - Section Properties

FB 12×180 has a mass of 16.96 kg/m, tabulated to EN 10058. A 12 m length therefore weighs about 204 kg, which is the figure to use for a steel take-off or when checking a lift.

FB 12×180 has a depth of 180 mm, a width of 12 mm, a wall thickness of 12 mm, with a cross-sectional area of 21.6 cm². These are the nominal dimensions from EN 10058; rolling tolerances apply to the delivered section.

The plastic section modulus about the major axis, Wpl,y, is 97.2 cm³, and the elastic modulus Wel,y is 64.8 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 35 kNm before any stability check.

The second moment of area about the major axis, Iy, is 583.2 cm⁴, and about the minor axis Iz is 2.592 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 5.2 cm about the major axis and iz is 0.346 cm about the minor axis. Column buckling is governed by the SMALLER value: the slenderness is lambda = L_cr / i, so with iz = 0.346 cm a 0.0 m effective length already gives lambda = 100. Minor-axis buckling almost always controls unless the weak axis is restrained.