Several online calculators are available to help someone approximate the weight of a piece of steel. Calculations are typically made based off of supplied dimensions of the steel object, its shape, and the density of steel. The user needs to supply the shape and the dimensions to the calculator. One online calculator that helps to calculate the weight of steel plates is
. http://www.portlandbolt.com/steel-plate-weight.html. The calculator assumes that carbon steel plates are used for the calculation. The user needs to specify whether the plate is square or round so the calculator can specify what units of measurement need entering. If the plate is square then the user should supply the length, width and thickness of the plate, along with the hole diameter if applicable. If there is a hole in the steel plate the calculator accounts for this and reduces the total weight by the weight that the volume of the hole would take up if it were filled. If a round plate is specified then the user must provide the thickness, the outside diameter, and the hole diameter if applicable. By supplying the shape and the dimensions the calculator provides the weight per plate in pounds. There is also a field on this calculator to specify quantity, allowing the user to determine total weight of all the plates combined. A more detailed steel weight calculator is available at http://www.steelforge.com/steelweights.htm. This calculator provides the ability to estimate weight for a variety of steel weights, not just steel plates. This calculator requires more detailed information, however. The user must know the particular alloy used in the materials such as stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, magnesium, etc. so the calculator can better estimate the density. This calculator also provides support for many more shapes, including rounds, flats, sheets, plates, strips, hexagons, octagons, pipes, rings, discs, squares, tubing, step shafts and wire. The user can enter dimensions for each of the shapes in either metric units or US standard units. Depending on the units provided, the calculation is made in either kilograms or pounds. http://www.portlandbolt.com/steel-plate-weight.html or http://www.steelforge.com/steelweights.htm
