HEA & HEB Beam Dimensions & Weight

Quick Reference

HEA/HEB beams are European wide flange beams (H-shaped). HEA: lighter, thinner flanges, for moderate loads (residential, commercial framing). HEB: thicker flanges, heavier, for higher load capacity (industrial, bridges). Related: HEM beams (heaviest series). Standards: EN 10034 (dimensions), EN 10025 (grades S235, S275, S355). Range: HEA/HEB 100 to 1000.

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Need a printable version? Download the Structural Steel Beams Chart for HEA, HEB, IPE, IPN dimensions and weights.

Steel H Beam: HEA and HEB

What Is a Steel H Beam?

A steel H beam has an H-shaped cross-section: two parallel flanges connected by a vertical web. The wide flanges give it high moment of inertia (bending resistance) in both axes, while the web resists shear. This makes H beams the workhorse of European structural steelwork, used as columns, floor beams, crane girders, and transfer beams.

The European H-beam family comes in three weight series: HEA (lightest), HEB (medium), and HEM (heaviest). All three share the same nominal depth and flange width for a given size designation, but differ in flange and web thickness, which directly affects load capacity and weight per meter.

HEA vs HEB beam cross-section comparison

HEA vs HEB: What’s the Difference?

The naming is straightforward once you know the pattern. For a given size number (e.g., 200), HEA and HEB have the same flange width but different thicknesses:

HEA is the lighter series. Thinner flanges and web mean less steel per meter, making HEA the default choice when loads are moderate and self-weight matters (typical for floor beams in commercial and residential buildings, roof purlins, and secondary framing). An HEA 200 weighs 42.3 kg/m.

HEB has thicker flanges and web, so it carries more load for the same depth. HEB is the standard choice for primary columns, main beams, and any application where higher bending or axial capacity is needed without increasing the beam depth. An HEB 200 weighs 61.3 kg/m, roughly 45% heavier than HEA 200, but with about 40% more section modulus.

Property	HEA 200	HEB 200
Depth	190 mm	200 mm
Flange width	200 mm	200 mm
Flange thickness	10 mm	15 mm
Web thickness	6.5 mm	9 mm
Weight	42.3 kg/m	61.3 kg/m
Section modulus Wx	389 cm³	570 cm³

The practical rule: start with HEA for preliminary design. If the utilization ratio exceeds ~0.85, step up to HEB before increasing the beam size. If HEB isn’t enough, move to HEM.

For the differences with HEM (the heavy series), see the HEM steel beams article.

Specifications

Three EN standards govern HEA/HEB beams:

Standard	What It Covers
EN 10365	Dimensions and masses: the tables that define each beam size (depth, width, thicknesses, section properties)
EN 10034	Shape and dimensional tolerances: how much the actual beam can deviate from nominal (straightness, depth, flange width, web thickness)
EN 10025	Material grades: chemical composition and mechanical properties of the steel itself

Material Grades

HEA/HEB beams are produced in standard structural steel grades per EN 10025. The grade designation tells you the minimum yield strength: S235 = 235 MPa, S275 = 275 MPa, S355 = 355 MPa. The suffix indicates impact test temperature: JR = +20°C, J0 = 0°C, J2 = -20°C, K2 = -20°C (higher energy).

Grade	Yield (MPa)	Tensile (MPa)	Impact Test	Typical Use
S235JR	235	360-510	27J at +20°C	General construction, low loads
S275JR	275	410-560	27J at +20°C	Standard building frames
S355J2	355	470-630	27J at -20°C	Primary structure, bridges, industrial
S355K2	355	470-630	40J at -20°C	Cold-climate applications

S355J2 is the most commonly specified grade for industrial and infrastructure projects. For ordinary building frames where spans are moderate, S275JR is often sufficient and slightly cheaper. S235 is fine for secondary members, handrails, and lightly loaded framing.

Dimension & Weights Hea/beh Steel Beams

H Steel beams HEA/HEB are a very commonly used type of steel profile. Beams, otherwise called “H” sections, continental beams, or HEA/HEB, are available in multiple material grades, the most common are EN 10025 S275, and S355. H sections look similar to I sections, but the flange is wider.

HEA Beams Sizes, and Mechanical Properties

Designation	h (mm)	a (mm)	e (mm)	r (mm)	Weight (kg/m)	Area (cm²)	Jx (cm⁴)	Jy (cm⁴)	Wx (cm³)	Wy (cm³)	ix (cm)	iy (cm)
HEA 100	96	5,0	8,0	12	16,7	21,24	349,2	133,8	72,76	26,76	4,06	2,51
HEA 120	114	5,0	8,0	12	19,9	25,34	606,2	230,9	106,3	38,48	4,89	3,02
HEA 140	133	5,5	8,5	12	24,7	31,42	1.033	389,3	155,4	55,62	5,73	3,52
HEA 160	152	6,0	9,0	15	30,4	38,77	1.673	615,6	220,1	76,95	6,57	3,98
HEA 180	171	6,0	9,5	15	35,5	45,25	2.51	924,6	293,6	102,7	7,45	4,52
HEA 200	190	6,5	10,0	18	42,3	53,83	3.692	1.326	388,6	133.6	8,28	4,98
HEA 220	210	7,0	11,0	18	50,5	64,34	5.41	1.955	515,2	177,7	9,17	5,51
HEA 240	230	7,5	12,0	21	60,3	76,84	7.763	2.769	675,1	230,7	10,05	6,00
HEA 260	250	7,5	12,5	24	68,2	86,82	10.45	3.668	836,4	282,1	10,97	6,50
HEA 280	270	8,0	13,0	24	76,4	97,26	13.67	4.763	1.013	340,2	11,86	7,00
HEA 300	290	8,5	14,0	27	88,3	112,5	18.26	6.31	1.26	420,6	12,74	7,49
HEA 300	310	9,0	15,5	27	97,6	124,4	22.93	6.985	1.479	465,7	13,58	7,49
HEA 300	330	9,5	16,5	27	105,0	133,5	27.69	7.436	1.678	495,7	14,40	7,46
HEA 300	350	10,0	17,5	27	112,0	142,8	33.09	7.887	1.891	525,8	15,22	7,43
HEA 300	390	11,0	19,0	27	125,0	159,0	45.07	8.564	2.311	570.9	16,84	7,34
HEA 300	440	11,5	21,0	27	140,0	178,0	63.72	9.465	2.896	631,0	18,92	7,29
HEA 300	490	12,0	23,0	27	155,0	197,5	86.97	10.37	3.55	691,1	21,98	7,24
HEA 300	540	12,5	24,0	27	166,0	211,8	111.9	10.82	4.146	721,3	22,99	7,15
HEA 300	590	13,0	25,0	27	178,0	226,5	141.2	11.27	4.787	751,4	24,97	7,05
HEA 300	640	13,5	26,0	27	190,0	241,6	175.2	11.72	5.474	781,6	26,93	6,97
HEA 300	690	14,5	27,0	27	204,0	260,5	215.3	12.18	6.241	811,9	28,87	6,84
HEA 300	790	15,0	28,0	30	224,0	285,8	303.4	12.64	7.682	842,6	32,58	6,65
HEA 300	890	16,0	30,0	30	252,0	320,5	422.1	13.55	9.485	903,2	36,29	6,50
HEA 300	990	16,5	31,0	30	272,0	346,8	553.8	14	11.19	933,6	39,96	6,35

HEB Beams Sizes, and Mechanical Properties

Designation	h (mm)	a (mm)	e (mm)	r (mm)	Weight (kg/m)	Area (cm²)	Jx (cm⁴)	Jy (cm⁴)	Wx (cm³)	Wy (cm³)	ix (cm)	iy (cm)
HEB 100	100	6,0	10,0	12	20,4	26,04	449,5	167,3	89,91	33,45	4,16	2,53
HEB 120	120	6,5	11,0	12	26,7	34,01	864,4	317,5	144,1	52,92	5,04	3,06
HEB 140	140	7,0	12,0	12	33,7	42,96	1.509	549,7	215,6	78,52	5,93	3,58
HEB 160	160	8,0	13,0	15	42,6	54,25	2.492	889,2	311,5	111,2	6,78	4,05
HEB 180	180	8,5	14,0	15	51,2	65,25	3.831	1.363	425,7	151,4	7,66	4,57
HEB 200	200	9,0	15,0	18	61,3	78,08	5.696	2.003	569,6	200,3	8,54	5,07
HEB 220	220	9,5	16,0	18	71,5	91,04	8.091	2.843	735,5	258,5	9,43	5,59
HEB 240	240	10,0	17,0	21	83,2	106,0	11.26	3.923	938,3	326,9	10,31	6,08
HEB 260	260	10,0	17,5	24	93,0	118,4	14.92	5.135	1.148	395,0	11,22	6,58
HEB 280	280	10,5	18,0	24	103,0	131,4	19.27	6.595	1.376	471,0	12,11	7,09
HEB 300	300	11,0	19,0	27	117,0	149,1	25.17	8.563	1.678	570,9	12,99	7,58
HEB 300	320	11,5	20,5	27	127,0	161,3	30.82	9.239	1.926	615,9	13,82	7,57
HEB 300	340	12,0	21,5	27	134,0	170,9	36.66	9.69	2.156	646,0	14,65	7,53
HEB 300	360	12,5	22,5	27	142,0	180,6	43.19	10.14	2.4	676,1	15,46	7,49
HEB 300	400	13,5	24,0	27	155,0	197,8	57.68	10.82	2.884	721,3	17,08	7,40
HEB 300	450	14,0	26,0	27	171,0	218,0	79.89	11.72	3.551	781,4	19,14	7,33
HEB 300	500	14,5	28,0	27	187,0	238,6	107.2	12.62	4.287	841,6	21,19	7,27
HEB 300	550	15,0	29,0	27	199,0	254,1	136.7	13.08	4.971	871,8	23,20	7,17
HEB 300	600	15,5	30,0	27	212,0	270,0	171	13.53	5.701	902,0	25,17	7,08
HEB 300	650	16,0	31,0	27	225,0	286,3	210.6	13.98	6.48	932,3	27,12	6,99
HEB 300	700	17,0	32,0	27	241,0	306,4	256.9	14.44	7.34	962,7	28,96	6,87
HEB 300	800	17,5	33,0	30	262,0	334,2	359.1	14.9	8.977	993,6	32,78	6,68
HEB 300	900	18,5	35,0	30	291,0	371,3	494.1	15.82	10.98	1.054	36,48	6,53
HEB 1000	1000	19,0	36,0	30	314,0	400,0	644.7	16.28	12.89	1.085	40,15	6,38

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