Structural steel products are invaluable to industries worldwide that require high-quality materials that will last generations. Steel building metals include premium metal channels, channel beams, steel beams, steel tees, and steel angles that are available cold rolled, hot rolled, or galvanized. Industrial Metal Supply is your trusted source for superior steel structural metals and accessory products.

The Channel Beam section is a cost-effective solution for short to medium span structures. The top deck can be manufactured with a variety of traction profiles, eliminating the need for field applied wearing surfaces. Standard Channel Beam sizes are listed below in 20", 24", 28", 32" and 36" depths, but custom sizes and adaptations such as extended flanges or 2nd cast curbs are easily attainable. While the Channel Beam section was originally developed for bridges, it is also popular for marine pier, building and garage applications.

Channel vs. I-Beam Frame?

You might be asking "which is better? channel or I-beam frames?" If you are confused as to why different trailers offer different frames, and which one you need, you are not alone. You want to make sure you are buying the best quality trailer on the market, and we are glad you are doing your homework. There are a lot of different frame materials available when buying a trailer, angle, tube, channel, and I-beam.  

We've made a simple and easy to understand comparison for you to determine which frame you need on your trailer, channel or I-beam.

Pros

Strong for how light weight it is, which can increase payload.

All surfaces can be coated to prevent corrosion.  

Cons

Not as strong as tubing or I-beam.

Under high stress, it can twist or bend sideways, it is not great for long unsupported spans.

Summary

Channel is remarkably strong for how light weight it is which makes it great for smaller payloads like our equipment haulers and utility trailers. It can be coated from all sides, unlike tubing, which can massively decrease corrosion on your main frame. We use channel on almost all our trailers for floor cross pieces.

I-Beam

Pros

Can handle vertical and horizontal stress

Best weight to strength ratio for high payloads.

Open construction can be coated on all surfaces to prevent corrosion.

Cons

Under high amounts of stress, long pieces are susceptible to twisting.

Summary

beam is best suited for high payloads on large trailers, that's why you'll find it on Lamar deckovers and dumps. It require re-enforcement to prevent twisting, and that's why we have torque tubes and underframe bridges standard on longer trailers. If you are looking for strength, I-beams are the way to go, look at building, especially steel buildings they are all made out of I-beam.

C-shaped channel beams

C-shaped channel beams, also called structural channel and parallel flange channel (PFC) beams, have a unique shape consisting of a wide web, typically aligned vertically, and two flanges that stick out from one side of the beam. The one-sided flanges make this beam easily discernible from other types of beams and give it the “C” shape.

Uses in the industry

C-shaped channel beams are not as commonly used as other profiles in the construction industry due to the inherent weakness in the design—because both flanges are on one side, the beam cannot bear as much weight as other structural steel beams. Therefore, the design of the structure must specifically call for a C-shaped beam, where the flat side is often mounted to another flat surface to maximize contact. Two C-shaped beams can also be welded together on the flat side to form an I-beam.

Perfect your c-shape beam production

Though C-shaped beams may not be as common as other profiles, your structural steel fabrication company nonetheless needs to be able to produce these when needed. And, you’ll want to ensure that your beams are perfectly fabricated. you’ll be able to maximize the quality of your production and speed up your output.

I Beam

An l -beam is shaped like an I. The I beam consists of two horizontal planes, known as flanges, connected by one vertical component, or the web. I-beam has tapered edges and it gets its name from the fact that it looks like a capital I when you see it from its cross section. With an I-beam, the height of the cross section is higher than the width of its flange.

H-Beam

H-beams are shaped like an H. H-beam is a structural beam made of rolled steel. It is incredibly strong. It gets its name because it looks like a capital H over its cross-section.

H Beam Vs I Beam

H beams are made of rolled steel, and they get their name because the cross section resembles a capital H. Compared to an I beam, the H beam consists of longer flanges and a thicker centre web. The flanges on an I beam are tapered.

Difference Between H Beam and I Beam

H–beam: The H–beam looks like one piece of metal but it has a bevel where three pieces of metal come together. I-beam: An I-beam is not made by welding or riveting sheets of metal together and is only one piece of metal throughout.

I Beam vs W Beam

An I-beam has tapered flanges with a narrower flange than most wide flange beams, making it a lighter building material. A wide flange beam, with wider flanges and web than the I-beam, can handle more weight, but this makes it heavier overall.

What Size I Beam Do I Need?

Is Square Tubing Stronger Than I-Beam?

Rectangular tube with the longest dimension vertical is next and square is worst because the I for regular sections depends on the third power of the vertical dimension. Tube is stronger.

Construction Beams

Different types of beams are used in the construction of buildings and structures. These are horizontal structural elements that withstand vertical loads, shear forces, and bending moments. Beams transfer loads that imposed along their length to their end points such as walls, columns, foundations, etc.