2×PFC 200×90×30 Back to Back - Section Properties

2×PFC 200×90×30 Back to Back has a mass of 59.4 kg/m, tabulated to BS EN 1993-1-1:2005 / BS 4-1:2005. A 12 m length therefore weighs about 713 kg, which is the figure to use for a steel take-off or when checking a lift.

The plastic section modulus about the major axis, Wpl,y, is 663 cm³, and the elastic modulus Wel,y is 505 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 235 kNm before any stability check.

The second moment of area about the major axis, Iy, is 5,050 cm⁴, and about the minor axis Iz is 5,050 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 8.16 cm about the major axis and iz is 4.55 cm about the minor axis. Column buckling is governed by the SMALLER value: the slenderness is lambda = L_cr / i, so with iz = 4.55 cm a 0.5 m effective length already gives lambda = 100. Minor-axis buckling almost always controls unless the weak axis is restrained.