Weight of Steel

1. Theoretical weight of steels

A spiral steel pipe is a type of steel pipe with a spiral seam. It is made from coiled steel sheets as the raw material, which are often heated, extruded and welded using an automatic double wire, double-sided submerged arc welding process.

2. Actual weight of steel

The actual weight of steel is the weight obtained by weighing it on a scale. This is more accurate than the theoretical weight.

3. Methods for calculating weight of steel

a. Gross weight versus net weight. It is the total weight of the steel and the packing materials combined. Transportation companies calculate fares based on gross weight, whereas the purchase and sale of steel is based on net weight.

b. Net weight versus gross weight. This is obtained by subtracting the weight of the packaging materials from the gross weight. This is the actual weight, also known as net weight. Purchases and sales are usually based on net weight.

c. The weight of the packing materials for steel products is called the ‘tare’.

d. The ton is the weight unit used to calculate the gross weight of steel for carriage. The legal unit of measurement is the tonne (1000 kg). There are also long tons (a British measurement unit of 1016.16 kg) and short tons (an American measurement unit of 907.18 kg).

e. The charged weight is also called the ‘charged ton’ or the ‘freight ton’. This is the weight of steel for which transportation departments charge. Different modes of transport have different criteria and methods of calculation. For example, in whole train transportation, the charged weight is usually the marked weight carried by the vehicle. For highway transportation, it is charged according to the truck’s weight capacity. For other non-whole train or truck transport, the minimum charged weight is several kilograms by gross weight. If the weight is slightly less than an integral value, it will be rounded up to the nearest integral value.