Calculating the weight of a square hollow section (SHS) is essential for structural integrity assessments, freight cost estimation, and material budgeting. The weight is determined by the volume of the material used and the density of the specific metal.
The Mathematical Formula:
To find the weight, we first calculate the cross-sectional area of the metal and then multiply it by the length and the density:
function updateUnits() {
var system = document.getElementById("unitSystem").value;
var labelSide = document.getElementById("labelSide");
var labelThickness = document.getElementById("labelThickness");
var labelLength = document.getElementById("labelLength");
if (system === "metric") {
labelSide.innerHTML = "Side Width (mm)";
labelThickness.innerHTML = "Wall Thickness (mm)";
labelLength.innerHTML = "Total Length (meters)";
} else {
labelSide.innerHTML = "Side Width (inches)";
labelThickness.innerHTML = "Wall Thickness (inches)";
labelLength.innerHTML = "Total Length (feet)";
}
}
function calculateSquareTubeWeight() {
var system = document.getElementById("unitSystem").value;
var density = parseFloat(document.getElementById("materialType").value);
var side = parseFloat(document.getElementById("sideWidth").value);
var thick = parseFloat(document.getElementById("wallThickness").value);
var len = parseFloat(document.getElementById("tubeLength").value);
var qty = parseFloat(document.getElementById("quantity").value);
var resultDiv = document.getElementById("sqResult");
var resultText = document.getElementById("resultText");
if (!side || !thick || !len || side <= 0 || thick <= 0 || len = side) {
alert("Wall thickness is too large for the side width.");
return;
}
var weight = 0;
var unitLabel = "";
if (system === "metric") {
// side in mm -> m
// thick in mm -> m
// len in m
// density in kg/m3
var sideM = side / 1000;
var thickM = thick / 1000;
var area = (sideM * sideM) – ((sideM – 2 * thickM) * (sideM – 2 * thickM));
weight = area * len * density * qty;
unitLabel = "kg";
} else {
// side in inches
// thick in inches
// len in feet -> inches
// density converted from kg/m3 to lb/in3
var densityLbIn3 = density * 0.000036127;
var lenIn = len * 12;
var areaIn = (side * side) – ((side – 2 * thick) * (side – 2 * thick));
weight = areaIn * lenIn * densityLbIn3 * qty;
unitLabel = "lbs";
}
resultDiv.style.display = "block";
var totalWeight = weight.toFixed(2);
var perUnit = (weight / qty).toFixed(2);
var outputHtml = "Total Calculated Weight: " + totalWeight + " " + unitLabel + "";
if (qty > 1) {
outputHtml += "Weight per tube: " + perUnit + " " + unitLabel + "";
}
resultText.innerHTML = outputHtml;
}