GB hot-rolled H-beams come in three families: HW (wide flange, roughly square, column sections), HM (medium flange) and HN (narrow flange, beam sections), sized per GB/T 11263 with the nominal depth × flange width in millimetres and weight in kg/m. An HN400x200 is a 400 mm deep, 200 mm wide beam at 66.0 kg/m — almost exactly an IPE 400 or a W16x45. The charts below cover the standard HW, HM, and HN series plus GB equal and unequal angles, with weights cross-checked against first-principles steel-density calculations, in both kg/m and lb/ft.
If a Chinese-designed drawing set just landed on your desk, this page and a calculator will get you to a priced tonnage. Multiply kg/m by 0.672 for lb/ft, or read it straight off the tables.
GB H-Beam Chart: HW, HM, and HN Sizes with Weights
HW — Wide-Flange (Column) Series
HW designations on schedules usually carry all four numbers: depth × width × web thickness × flange thickness, all in mm. The flange is as wide as the section is deep — these are your column shapes, the GB counterpart to a W-column or an HEB.
| Section | Depth × Width (mm) | Web × Flange (mm) | kg/m | lb/ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HW100x100x6x8 | 100 × 100 | 6 × 8 | 17.2 | 11.6 |
| HW125x125x6.5x9 | 125 × 125 | 6.5 × 9 | 23.8 | 16.0 |
| HW150x150x7x10 | 150 × 150 | 7 × 10 | 31.9 | 21.4 |
| HW175x175x7.5x11 | 175 × 175 | 7.5 × 11 | 40.4 | 27.1 |
| HW200x200x8x12 | 200 × 200 | 8 × 12 | 50.5 | 33.9 |
| HW200x204x12x12 | 200 × 204 | 12 × 12 | 56.2 | 37.8 |
| HW250x250x9x14 | 250 × 250 | 9 × 14 | 72.4 | 48.7 |
| HW250x255x14x14 | 250 × 255 | 14 × 14 | 82.2 | 55.2 |
| HW300x300x10x15 | 300 × 300 | 10 × 15 | 94.5 | 63.5 |
| HW300x305x15x15 | 300 × 305 | 15 × 15 | 106.0 | 71.2 |
| HW350x350x12x19 | 350 × 350 | 12 × 19 | 137.0 | 92.1 |
| HW350x357x19x19 | 350 × 357 | 19 × 19 | 156.0 | 104.8 |
| HW400x400x13x21 | 400 × 400 | 13 × 21 | 172.0 | 115.6 |
| HW400x408x21x21 | 400 × 408 | 21 × 21 | 197.0 | 132.4 |
Note the paired sizes (HW200x200 vs HW200x204, HW300x300 vs HW300x305): the second of each pair is a thicker-web variant at nearly the same envelope. Miss that distinction on a takeoff and you're 6–12% light on those columns.
HM — Medium-Flange Series
| Section | Depth × Width (mm) | kg/m | lb/ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| HM150x100 | 150 × 100 | 21.4 | 14.4 |
| HM200x150 | 200 × 150 | 30.6 | 20.6 |
| HM250x175 | 250 × 175 | 44.1 | 29.6 |
| HM300x200 | 300 × 200 | 56.8 | 38.2 |
| HM350x250 | 350 × 250 | 79.7 | 53.6 |
| HM400x300 | 400 × 300 | 107.0 | 71.9 |
| HM450x300 | 450 × 300 | 124.0 | 83.3 |
| HM500x300 | 500 × 300 | 115.0 | 77.3 |
| HM600x300 | 600 × 300 | 151.0 | 101.5 |
Yes, the HM500x300 really is lighter than the HM450x300 — the rolled thicknesses differ between the two sizes. Don't "correct" it in your spreadsheet; price what the catalog says.
HN — Narrow-Flange (Beam) Series
The workhorse beams. Flange width is roughly half the depth, same proportions as an IPE or a W-beam series.
| Section | Depth × Width (mm) | kg/m | lb/ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| HN100x50 | 100 × 50 | 9.54 | 6.4 |
| HN125x60 | 125 × 60 | 13.3 | 8.9 |
| HN150x75 | 150 × 75 | 14.0 | 9.4 |
| HN175x90 | 175 × 90 | 18.2 | 12.2 |
| HN200x100 | 200 × 100 | 21.3 | 14.3 |
| HN250x125 | 250 × 125 | 29.7 | 20.0 |
| HN300x150 | 300 × 150 | 36.7 | 24.7 |
| HN350x175 | 350 × 175 | 50.0 | 33.6 |
| HN400x200 | 400 × 200 | 66.0 | 44.4 |
| HN450x200 | 450 × 200 | 76.0 | 51.1 |
| HN500x200 | 500 × 200 | 89.7 | 60.3 |
| HN600x200 | 600 × 200 | 106.0 | 71.2 |
| HN700x300 | 700 × 300 | 185.0 | 124.3 |
| HN800x300 | 800 × 300 | 210.0 | 141.1 |
| HN900x300 | 900 × 300 | 243.0 | 163.3 |
What Do HW, HM, and HN Mean on Chinese Drawings?
The H says hot-rolled H-section; the second letter is the flange-width class:
- HW — wide flange (宽翼缘): flange width ≈ depth. Columns, heavy bracing nodes.
- HM — medium flange (中翼缘): flange width ≈ 2/3 depth. Beam-columns, crane runway girders.
- HN — narrow flange (窄翼缘): flange width ≈ 1/2 depth. Floor and roof beams — the bulk of most GB tonnage.
You'll also see plain H400x200x8x13 with no W/M/N letter, especially on drawings out of design institutes that list full dimensions everywhere. Same section — classify it by the depth-to-width ratio if you need to know which series to source from. Two other families show up constantly alongside: I-sections (工字钢, tapered-flange I-beams like I20a, closer to an American S-shape than a W) and channels (槽钢, C20a and similar). Those are older GB/T 706 catalog shapes; the tables above stick to the modern H-series and angles, whose weights can be verified from their dimensions.
Grade callouts sit next to the size: Q235B (235 MPa yield, roughly your A36 territory) and Q355B (355 MPa, comparable to A572 Gr. 50) cover most structural work. The letter after the number is the impact-toughness grade, not a size code.
How Do You Read a GB Designation Like HN400x200?
Take HN400x200x8x13:
| Piece | Meaning |
|---|---|
| HN | Hot-rolled H, narrow-flange series |
| 400 | Nominal depth, mm |
| 200 | Nominal flange width, mm |
| 8 | Web thickness, mm |
| 13 | Flange thickness, mm |
Weight isn't in the name — you pull it from the table (66.0 kg/m here). That's the biggest habit shift for AISC estimators: a W16x45 hands you the weight in the designation; a GB callout hands you geometry and makes you look up the mass. Schedules often truncate to HN400x200, which is fine because the standard series has one rolling per nominal size. On marked-up plans you may see just the mark (GL-1, KL-3) with the section only in the member schedule — same discipline as anywhere else: the schedule is the source of truth.
One trap: "400" is nominal. Actual depths in the HN series run a few mm off nominal for some rollings. For estimating it never matters; for connection detailing, check the mill catalog.
What Angle Sizes Does GB Cover?
GB hot-rolled angles (GB/T 706) mirror the metric angle logic you'd see in EN or IS work: L + leg length(s) + thickness, all mm. Equal angles run L20x3 up to L200x24; unequal angles from L40x25x3 to L200x125x16. Drawings sometimes use the ∠ symbol instead of L — ∠100x10 is L100x10.
Common structural sizes:
| Equal angle | kg/m | lb/ft | Unequal angle | kg/m | lb/ft | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L50x5 | 3.77 | 2.5 | L63x40x5 | 3.92 | 2.6 | |
| L63x6 | 5.72 | 3.8 | L75x50x6 | 5.70 | 3.8 | |
| L75x6 | 6.91 | 4.6 | L90x56x8 | 8.77 | 5.9 | |
| L80x8 | 9.66 | 6.5 | L100x63x8 | 9.89 | 6.6 | |
| L100x10 | 15.15 | 10.2 | L125x80x10 | 15.58 | 10.5 | |
| L125x10 | 19.13 | 12.9 | L140x90x10 | 17.50 | 11.8 | |
| L160x14 | 34.02 | 22.9 | L160x100x12 | 23.85 | 16.0 | |
| L200x20 | 60.52 | 40.7 | L200x125x16 | 39.83 | 26.8 |
Sanity check any angle weight from its name: (sum of legs − thickness) × thickness × 0.00785 gives kg/m within a few percent. L100x10: (200 − 10) × 10 × 0.00785 ≈ 14.9 vs. the catalog 15.15. If a schedule value fails that check by 20%, someone typo'd the schedule.
What Is the AISC or EN Equivalent of a GB H-Beam?
There is no exact substitute — a GB "equivalent" is a different rolled section that lands close on depth and mass, same caveat as any W-shape metric cross-reference. But for pricing sanity checks and stock-availability conversations, the nearest matches are close enough to be useful:
| GB section | kg/m | Nearest AISC | Nearest EN |
|---|---|---|---|
| HN300x150 | 36.7 | W12x26 (38.7 kg/m) | IPE 300 (42.2 kg/m, heavier) |
| HN400x200 | 66.0 | W16x45 (67.0 kg/m) | IPE 400 (66.3 kg/m) |
| HN500x200 | 89.7 | W21x62 (92.2 kg/m) | IPE 500 (90.7 kg/m) |
| HW200x200x8x12 | 50.5 | W8x35 (52.1 kg/m) | between HEA 200 and HEB 200 |
| HW300x300x10x15 | 94.5 | W12x65 (96.7 kg/m) | HEA 300 (88.3 kg/m) |
The HN-to-IPE match is the tightest — HN400x200 and IPE 400 are within half a percent on weight and identical on nominal depth. HN-to-W is close on mass but the W depth rarely lines up as cleanly. Substituting requires the engineer of record, every time; the chart is for estimating and procurement conversations, not for the shop floor.
How Do You Work GB Drawings as a Non-Chinese Fabricator?
GB sets are increasingly common outside China — equipment platforms, prefab structures, mezzanines, and process-plant packages designed by Chinese EPCs and fabricated locally. The workflow that holds up:
- Find the member schedule first. Chinese structural sets lean heavily on schedules; plans often carry marks only.
- Confirm the standard before counting anything. An H400x200 could be GB or a Japanese JIS section (the GB H-series was modeled on JIS, and the common sizes match). If the general notes cite GB 50017 or GB/T 11263, you're in GB territory.
- Convert once, at the end. Take off in mm and kg/m, hold the tonnage in metric, and convert the final number for pricing. Line-by-line unit conversion is where transposition errors breed.
- Watch the grade. Q355 pricing against a Q235 assumption (or vice versa) moves material cost more than any single miscounted beam.
- Don't hand-translate sections you can look up. Everything in this post's tables is standard catalog data — the only genuinely custom items on most GB sets are welded plate girders, which are dimensioned in full on the drawings anyway.
If your shop only ever sees AISC, this is a once-a-year headache. If mixed-standard sets are becoming normal for you, it's worth reading why a takeoff tool needs to handle multiple standards natively rather than forcing everything through a US-shaped funnel.
Can Takeoff Software Detect GB Sections Automatically?
Yes. SteelFlo auto-detects the drawing's standard and reads GB callouts — HW/HM/HN beams, angles, and the rest — directly off the PDF, the same way it handles EN, BS/IS, and AS/NZS sets. Every detected member gets its catalog weight attached automatically from a library of 4,700+ steel sections across 6 standards, so an HN400x200 lands in your BOM at 66.0 kg/m without anyone touching this chart. Detection runs at 95–99% accuracy with human verification: the software boxes every label it finds, and your estimator confirms the boxes before anything exports.
Got a GB drawing set sitting in your inbox? Upload it to SteelFlo and see the full member list with weights in minutes — the first 3 takeoffs are free, no card required.