All 2,299 shapes in the AISC Shapes Database v16.0 — W, M, S, HP, C, MC, L, 2L, WT, MT, ST, HSS and Pipe — with the dimensions a detailer needs (including k-det, T and the workable gage) and the section properties an engineer will ask about. Put two or three shapes in and the box at the top says, in plain words, what changes.
One convention worth knowing before you read an angle: in AISC's database d is the
shorter leg and b is the longer leg. An L8X4X1/2 therefore lists d = 4" and b = 8".
This page labels both rows so the number cannot be mistaken for a depth.
It is an arithmetic comparison: weight, depth, section modulus, moment of inertia and radius of gyration, each as a ratio of the shape you picked first, with the division shown. That answers "is this even in the ballpark" before anyone spends time on it.
It is not a design check and it is not permission. A substitution is the engineer of record's call — bracing, connections, deflection limits, camber, fit-up and the detail at both ends all sit outside these numbers. The box says the same thing on screen, every time, because a ratio that looks good is exactly when people forget.
| Group | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Detailing | weight per foot, area, depth (or angle legs and thickness, or HSS height and width, or pipe OD), flange width, web and flange thickness, HSS nominal and design wall, k-det, T, workable gage, and the distance to the centroid |
| Strong axis | Ix, Sx, Zx, rx |
| Weak axis | Iy, Sy, Zy, ry, and rz — the one that governs a single angle in compression |
| Torsion and LTB | J, Cw, rts, ho |
A dash means the property does not apply to that shape — an HSS has no flange width, an angle has no workable gage in the database. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap.
Type any part of a designation. Fractions are understood: HSS8X8X1/2 finds
HSS8X8X.500, because the database writes HSS walls as decimals. The family buttons narrow the list
when a search term is ambiguous.
The AISC Shapes Database v16.0, read once into a data file this site serves. The values are AISC's published facts, which is what makes them usable; the field selection, grouping, labelling and units on this page are ours, and none of AISC's own table layouts or text is reproduced. If you need the full database, get it from AISC — this page exists to answer one shape's worth of questions at a time, not to be a copy of it.
The short one. In the AISC Shapes Database d is the shorter leg and b is the longer leg, so an L8X4 lists its shorter leg as d and its longer leg as b — the opposite of what most people read into a letter that usually means depth. This page labels both rows in words so the number cannot be mistaken for a depth.
It is arithmetic and nothing more: weight, depth, section modulus, moment of inertia and radius of gyration, each as a share of the shape you picked first, with the division printed so you can see it. Deflection follows the moment of inertia and bracing follows the weak-axis radius of gyration. It is not a design check and it is not permission — a substitution is the engineer of record's call, and connections, bracing, deflection limits, camber and fit-up all sit outside these numbers. Run on this page: if W21X44 becomes W18X50, weight is 50 ÷ 44 = 113.6%, depth 18" − 20.7" = -2.7", Sx 88.9 ÷ 81.6 = 108.9%, Ix 800 ÷ 843 = 94.9%, ry 1.65 ÷ 1.26 = 131.0%.
Because that property does not apply to that shape. An HSS has no flange width; an angle has no workable gage in the database. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap, because a made-up number in a properties table is worse than an empty cell.
Type the fraction and let the page convert it. The database writes HSS walls as decimals, so a search for a half-inch wall is rewritten to the decimal form as you type and still finds the shape. The family buttons narrow the list when a designation is ambiguous.
W14X90: A = 26.5 in², Ix = 999 in⁴, Sx = 143 in³, Zx = 157 in³, Cw = 16,000 in⁶, k-det = 2", T = 10", gage 5 1/2". L8X4X1/2: d = 4" (short leg), b = 8" (long leg), t = 1/2", rz = 0.863". If this page says otherwise, do not use it — tell us.