IPE Beam Load Capacity Table: How Much Can an IPE Carry per Span?
IPE Beam Load Capacity Table: How Much Can an IPE Carry per Span?
Section tables give you Ix and Wx; what you actually want to know is "will an IPE 200 carry my floor over 5 m". This table answers that for every IPE from 80 to 600 and spans from 2 to 8 m, computed from the section properties on our datasheets under one clearly stated set of assumptions. It is a sizing aid for preliminary design, not a structural calculation.
Assumptions (read these first)
- Steel S235 (fy = 235 N/mm²), E = 210,000 N/mm². For S355 the bending values scale by 355/235 = 1.51; the deflection values do not change.
- Simply supported beam, uniformly distributed load, span = distance between supports.
- Bending: M_Rd = Wel,y × fy with γM0 = 1.0, i.e. the elastic design resistance of the section. The plastic resistance is 10–15% higher for IPE sections; using the elastic value is the conservative choice.
- Deflection: limit L/250, checked with the same load.
- Top flange laterally restrained (by a slab, decking or bracing). An unrestrained beam fails by lateral-torsional buckling well below these values — this is the assumption that breaks most often in practice.
- Self-weight is not deducted; subtract G × 0.01 kN/m for the beam itself.
Each value is the smaller of the two checks. b = bending governs: compare with your factored (design) load. d = deflection governs: compare with your characteristic (unfactored) load. Values in kN/m.
The table (spans 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 8 m)
- IPE 80 (6.0 kg/m) — 6.5 d · 1.9 d · 0.8 d · 0.4 d · 0.2 d · 0.1 d
- IPE 100 (8.1 kg/m) — 13.8 d · 4.1 d · 1.7 d · 0.9 d · 0.5 d · 0.2 d
- IPE 120 (10.4 kg/m) — 24.9 b · 7.6 d · 3.2 d · 1.6 d · 0.9 d · 0.4 d
- IPE 140 (12.9 kg/m) — 36.3 b · 12.9 d · 5.5 d · 2.8 d · 1.6 d · 0.7 d
- IPE 160 (15.8 kg/m) — 51.2 b · 20.8 d · 8.8 d · 4.5 d · 2.6 d · 1.1 d
- IPE 180 (18.8 kg/m) — 68.6 b · 30.5 b · 13.3 d · 6.8 d · 3.9 d · 1.7 d
- IPE 200 (22.4 kg/m) — 91.2 b · 40.5 b · 19.6 d · 10.0 d · 5.8 d · 2.4 d
- IPE 220 (26.2 kg/m) — 118 b · 52.6 b · 27.9 d · 14.3 d · 8.3 d · 3.5 d
- IPE 240 (30.7 kg/m) — 152 b · 67.7 b · 38.1 b · 20.1 d · 11.6 d · 4.9 d
- IPE 270 (36.1 kg/m) — 202 b · 89.6 b · 50.4 b · 29.9 d · 17.3 d · 7.3 d
- IPE 300 (42.2 kg/m) — 262 b · 116 b · 65.4 b · 41.9 b · 25.0 d · 10.5 d
- IPE 330 (49.1 kg/m) — 335 b · 149 b · 83.8 b · 53.6 b · 35.2 d · 14.8 d
- IPE 360 (57.1 kg/m) — 425 b · 189 b · 106 b · 68.0 b · 47.2 b · 20.5 d
- IPE 400 (66.3 kg/m) — 543 b · 242 b · 136 b · 86.9 b · 60.4 b · 29.1 d
- IPE 450 (77.6 kg/m) — 705 b · 313 b · 176 b · 113 b · 78.3 b · 42.5 d
- IPE 500 (90.7 kg/m) — 906 b · 403 b · 227 b · 145 b · 101 b · 56.6 b
- IPE 550 (106 kg/m) — 1,147 b · 510 b · 287 b · 184 b · 128 b · 71.7 b
- IPE 600 (122 kg/m) — 1,442 b · 641 b · 361 b · 231 b · 160 b · 90.2 b
How to read it: a floor beam over 5 m
Floor beams at 2.5 m centres, dead load 3.0 kN/m² (slab + finishes), live load 2.0 kN/m² (residential/office).
- Characteristic line load: (3.0 + 2.0) × 2.5 = 12.5 kN/m
- Factored line load (γG 1.35, γQ 1.5): (1.35 × 3.0 + 1.5 × 2.0) × 2.5 = 17.6 kN/m
At 5 m the IPE 240 shows 20.1 d — deflection governs, so compare with the characteristic 12.5 kN/m: fine, with margin. Its bending resistance at 5 m is 8 × 324 × 23.5 / 25 = 24.4 kN/m against the factored 17.6: also fine. An IPE 220 (14.3 d) would pass deflection but its bending resistance at 5 m, 19.0 kN/m, is closer to 17.6 than most engineers like. IPE 240 it is — 30.7 kg/m, and the beam deflection calculator confirms 15.9 mm deflection under 12.5 kN/m, inside the 20 mm (L/250) limit.
Where the numbers come from
- Bending: q = 8 × M_Rd / L², with M_Rd = Wx [cm³] × 235 / 1,000 kNm. IPE 200: 194 × 0.235 = 45.6 kNm → at 4 m, 8 × 45.6 / 16 = 22.8 kN/m.
- Deflection: q = 384 × E × Ix / (5 × 250 × L³). IPE 200 at 4 m: 384 × 210,000 × 1,943 × 10⁴ / (5 × 250 × 4,000³) = 19.6 N/mm = 19.6 kN/m — smaller than 22.8, so deflection governs and the table shows 19.6 d.
Below roughly 3–4 m the steel yields first; above it, the beam sags too much before it is anywhere near yielding. That is why long-span beams are chosen by Ix, not by Wx.
What this table does not cover
Lateral-torsional buckling of unrestrained beams, point loads, cantilevers, continuous beams, web crippling at supports, vibration of light floors, fire, fatigue, dynamic or crane loads, and connections. For any of those — and for anything that carries people — the numbers here are a starting point for a structural engineer, not a substitute for one.
Tables and tools
- Every IPE size with a to-scale section drawing, weights and a worked deflection example: IPE table
- Same question for wide-flange sections: HEA and HEB tables
- Your own span, load and support type: beam deflection calculator
- How to choose between the families: IPE vs HEA vs HEB and the steel beam span guide