FB 32×280 - Section Properties

FB 32×280 has a mass of 70.34 kg/m, tabulated to EN 10058. A 12 m length therefore weighs about 844 kg, which is the figure to use for a steel take-off or when checking a lift.

FB 32×280 has a depth of 280 mm, a width of 32 mm, a wall thickness of 32 mm, with a cross-sectional area of 89.6 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 627.2 cm³, and the elastic modulus Wel,y is 418.1 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 223 kNm before any stability check.

The second moment of area about the major axis, Iy, is 5,854 cm⁴, and about the minor axis Iz is 76.46 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 8.08 cm about the major axis and iz is 0.924 cm about the minor axis. Column buckling is governed by the SMALLER value: the slenderness is lambda = L_cr / i, so with iz = 0.924 cm a 0.1 m effective length already gives lambda = 100. Minor-axis buckling almost always controls unless the weak axis is restrained.