Atlas Tube Launches Enhanced HSS vs. Wide Flange Comparison Tool
New features enable weight and dollar savings analysis
CHICAGO (July 24, 2025) — Atlas Tube, a division of Zekelman Industries, has updated its popular HSS vs. Wide Flange Comparison Tool to help designers and builders uncover the advantages that Hollow Structural Sections (HSS) offer because of their strength compared to traditional wide-flange shapes.
Due to their shape, HSS can support more load with less steel than traditional wide-flange beams. The refreshed comparison tool offered by Atlas Tube features an enhanced user interface and the ability to compare multiple sizes simultaneously, with results easily shared with members of the project team. By entering a few simple pieces of information, users can quickly estimate potential weight and dollar savings by switching columns to HSS.
“Our easy-to-use comparison tool provides a quick comparison of different section types used in gravity columns with long unbraced lengths and the potential savings that can come from switching to HSS sections,” said Brad Fletcher, Senior Structural Engineer, Atlas Tube.
Benefits of switching to HSS include:
- HSS columns can weigh up to 50% less and still support the same load provided by a wide-flange column.
- HSS are 200 times stronger than open sections in resisting torsional loading.
- HSS have up to 50% less surface area than wide-flange sections and are easier to finish.
The updates to the HSS vs. Wide Flange Comparison Tool come on the heels of the launch of the Atlas Tube HSS Connections Hub™, a new resource designed to help engineers design fabrication-friendly, code-compliant HSS connection solutions with precision and speed. The HSS Connections Hub demystifies HSS connection design and has grown to more than 1,200 users in just three months. New calculators and typical details are added on a monthly basis.
LINKS:
HS vs. WF Comparison Tool: https://www.atlastube.com/hss-vs-wide-flange-comparison/
HSS Connections Hub™: https://www.atlastube.com/hss-connections-hub/
About Zekelman
Zekelman is a family of operating companies which include Atlas Tube, Picoma, Sharon Tube, Wheatland Tube, Western Tube, and Z Modular. With 22 manufacturing locations and 3,200+ teammates across North America, the company is the leading independent manufacturer of hollow structural sections (HSS) and steel pipe, and the top producer of electrical conduit and elbows, couplings, and nipples in North America. Zekelman – Believe in What You Build™. For more information, visit zekelman.com.
