What is the maximum load a HEB 200 column can support?
Design & Analysis
The capacity depends on three factors: unbraced length, steel grade, and code used. For a HEB 200 (cross-section area 78.1 cm², radius of gyration ry = 5.07 cm) in S275 steel, an unbraced length of 3 m gives a slenderness ratio KL/ry ≈ 59, which classifies as intermediate buckling. The design compressive strength per Eurocode 3 is approximately 1,850 kN for a 3 m column. For 4 m unbraced length it drops to ~1,600 kN. Shorter (2 m) gives ~2,050 kN. These are characteristic values before load factors. For combined compression + bending (beam-column), the capacity is further reduced by interaction equations. CalcSteel computes these checks automatically when you model the column and apply loads.
Key takeaways
- A HEB 200 is a 200 mm deep, 200 mm wide hot-rolled H-section, 61.3 kg/m, with cross-sectional area 7,810 mm² — the starting point for any capacity check.
- Its pure squash load (no buckling) is roughly 1,835 kN in S235 and 2,773 kN in S355 — but a real column buckles long before that as it gets taller.
- The modern buckling formula descends from Euler (1757), refined by the Perry-Robertson (Ayrton-Perry) approach and calibrated by the ECCS column-test campaign behind the European curves around 1970.
- Software like CalcSteel automates the whole chain — section lookup, slenderness, buckling curve, reduction factor — across NBR 8800, AISC 360, Eurocode 3 and IS 800.
Full guide
How much load can a HEB 200 column carry?
Step-by-step with figures and sources — 7 min read
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