Section beams are steel structural members with various cross-sectional appearances, including I-beams, H-beams, and Z-beams. They can be manufactured by rolling or welding. The web is the vertical section, while the flanges are the horizontal sections. H-beams offer the greatest consistency and face load capacity, making them ideal for columns and load-bearing applications. Different types of section beams have varying strength characteristics.
A section beam is the name given to any steel structural member most commonly referred to by its cross-sectional appearance. Examples of different types of section beams include I-beams, H-beams, and Z-beams. This particular style of beam can be manufactured in one of two ways. It can be by rolling the section from a single piece of steel or by welding three individual steel elements together to form the required cross section.
Three main parts include the section beams, web and two flanges. The web is the vertical section of the beam, while the flanges are the horizontal sections of the beam when viewed in cross section. The naming of the sections is determined by their appearance in the cross section. For example, an I-beam has a long, vertical web to the narrower flanges, while a Z-beam has a diagonal web attached to opposite sides of the upper and lower flanges.
Another type of section beam is the H-beam. This type of beam will either have a short web with two wide flanges, or the web and flanges will be of equal size. H-section beams are highly effective as simply supported beams and offer high levels of resistance to both vertical and horizontal loads.
Different types of section beam possess different strength characteristics. An I-beam possesses a high vertical load capacity, but is susceptible to torsional or twisting forces and offers little lateral resistance. Z-beams, on the other hand, offer greater lateral strength, but this comes at the expense of reduced vertical load capacities and torsion resistance.
Of the available section beam types, H-beams offer the greatest overall consistency across the line of section forces. A key strength of an H-beam is its face load capacity. This is due to the structural resistance to bending in any direction. That is, placing a load on the end of a beam or column with an H cross section will not encourage the beam to bend in the same way as an I or Z beam.
When placing an end load on a section beam, the results may differ. In the case of an I-beam, the tendency will be for the member to bend to one side due to the low lateral resistance provided by the narrow flanges. Similarly, when using a Z-beam, the load will encourage the member to rotate about its central axis. It is for this reason that H-beams are also commonly used as structural columns or for load-bearing ground reinforcement applications.
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