How to Calculate Metal Weight

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Calculating the weight of a said alloy is very important in engineering, as it directly affects the performance of the material. The weight of a single piece of alloy with the same dimensions can vary greatly even in materials that have similar properties. That is because alloys are composed of many different elements, each having separate densities.

Now, the mathematics behind calculating metal weight is very simple However, you should still know the density of the alloy and the exact dimensions of the part. To make things even simpler, we launched a metal weight calculator.

With our calculator, you can easily find how much a said part weighs. The calculator works with every alloy from our repository, including Aluminum, Cobalt, Magnesium, Nickel, Nickel Copper, Stainless Steel, Steel, Titanium, and Tool Steel alloys.

Moreover, our Metal Weight Calculator can calculate the weight of many different parts and shapes, including sheet, plate, strip, tube, bar, rod, wire, extrusion, ring, forging. The only thing you need to do is to enter the dimensions of the part (diameter, length, and quantity), and you will quickly get the entire metal weight.

Our Metal Weight Calculator can certainly simplify the process of calculating the weight. However, the number you get at the end will be an estimation, which is why we recommend additional computations to be made for practical use.

Calculating Metal Weight Using a Formula

To calculate the weight of any part, you need to first calculate the volume of the shape. Then, you should use the density of the alloy. You can find the density of any alloy in the “Mechanical and Physical Properties” table on the web page of each alloy available through Tech Steel & Materials.

Please note that we provide both imperial and metric measurements for any alloy. You should always calculate using the imperial lb/in³ with inches, and the metric g/cm³ with centimeters. Never use imperial with metric measurements during calculations!

Calculating the Volume of the Metal Part

You can calculate the volume of any part using a simple formula. For rectangular pieces, you will need these dimensions:

• The length of the part
• The width of the part (or diameter)
• The thickness of the part (or diameter)

You can get the full volume of the part by multiplying all values in case of a square bar, plate, or sheet: Volume = Length x Width x Thickness

For Round Bar Volume, use the next formula:
Volume = π × (Diameter ÷ 2) × (Diameter ÷ 2) × Length

For Square Tube Volume, use the next formula:
Volume = (Width – Wall thickness) × Wall Thickness × 4 × Length

For Round Tube Volume, use the next formula:
Volume = (Outer Diameter – Wall thickness) × Wall Thickness × π × Length

After you found the volume of the part, just multiply it with the density of the alloy, respecting the imperial and metric measures:

Metal Weight = Volume x Density

In practice:

Let’s take a Stainless Steel 422 square plate with 10x4x2 inches (10″Length x 4″Width x 2″Thickness) as an example:

Volume = 10 x 4 x 2 = 80 in³

Then, we are multiplying the volume with the density of Stainless Steel 422, which is 0.28 lb/in³:

Metal Weight = 80 x 0.28 = 22.4 lb

Bianca Van der Watt