Abdi Elmi - IPE160

From calculations we’ve done we found that the most suitable beam is the IPE160. Using its properties the IPE160 is ideal with the beam length to be 4.7m. Researching the web, the cost for this type of beam is very vague due to the fact that you have to contact the suppliers (mostly living in east-Asia) for a ‘negotiable’ price. One example of these sorts of websites is: ecplaza.net/tradeleads/seller/6010942/ipe140ipe160_ipe180_ipe200.html. This is a problem that we need to discuss in our next meeting.

There are three structural steel types that I’ve been researching on the net. The steel grade S274, S355 and S460. Almost all UK structural steels are the S275 and the S355. The letters and numbers are:

(S) Structural and (three digit numbers)Yield Strength (Newton/mm squared)

Here’s a table I’ve constructed of each steel grade’s properties:

Steel grade	Yield-min (MPa)	Tensile-max (MPa)
S275	275	580
S355	355	680
S460	460	670

One task that i'll have to do is find the prices for these steel grades and see which one is most suitable for our particular crane.