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MS & SS plate calculator
How many sheets a tank shell, top and bottom will consume — counted the way the shell is actually rolled, with plate area and weight alongside.
Tank
Diameter 10 ft 0 in (3.048 m) · shell height 15 ft 0 in (4.572 m)
Material & sheet
For the single-size estimate. The course plan picks its own from what you stock.
One 8 × 4 ft (2438 × 1219 mm) sheet at 5 mm weighs 116.7 kg (257.2 lb).
Enter your current rate — steel prices move weekly and differ by city and mill, so nothing is assumed here.
Sheet sizes you stock11 of 11 · click to change
Untick anything your yard does not carry. The course plan and the comparison below only ever use what is ticked.
Sheets to order
Built as rolled courses — this is the number to purchase against.
22
16 for the shell + 6 for top/bottom
- Rings / shell courses
- 4 × 4 ft
- Sheets per ring
- 4
- Circumference
- 31 ft 5 in (9.576 m)
- Gross weight (as bought)
- 2.567 t (2,567 kg / 5,659 lb)
Ring / course plan
A ring — also called a shell course — is one horizontal band of plate, rolled to the curve and welded into a circle. The sheet's width sets its height.
One width, 8 × 5 ft (2438 × 1524 mm), across 15 ft 0 in (4.572 m) of shell exactly — bottom course first.
- Bottom4 × 8 × 5 ft (2438 × 1524 mm)5 ft band
- Ring 24 × 8 × 5 ft (2438 × 1524 mm)5 ft band
- Top4 × 8 × 5 ft (2438 × 1524 mm)5 ft band
- Rings / courses
- 3
- Shell sheets
- 12
- Stacked height
- 15 ft 0 in (4.572 m)
- Trim off top ring
- none
Chosen for the fewest courses, then the least plate. Every course boundary is a circumferential weld to set up, run and test, which costs more than the steel it saves — so 5 + 5 + 4 ft beats 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 ft for the same 14 ft.
Which sheet suits this tank
Every stock size measured against 10 ft 0 in (3.048 m) diameter × 15 ft 0 in (4.572 m) shell. Ranked by how much plate you pay for and do not use.
| Sheet | Rings | Per ring | Sheets | Waste | Last course |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 × 5 ft (2438 × 1524 mm)Best fit | 3 | 4 | 17 | 8.2% | exact |
| 8 × 4 ft (2438 × 1219 mm)selected | 4 | 4 | 22 | 12.0% | 1 ft off |
| 6 × 3 ft (1829 × 914 mm) | 5 | 6 | 40 | 14.6% | exact |
| 2000 × 1000 mm | 5 | 5 | 34 | 16.5% | 1 ft 5 in off |
| 2500 × 1250 mm | 4 | 4 | 22 | 17.8% | 1 ft 5 in off |
| 12 × 4 ft (3658 × 1219 mm) | 4 | 3 | 16 | 22.2% | 1 ft off |
| 20 × 5 ft (6096 × 1524 mm) | 3 | 2 | 8 | 27.3% | exact |
| 10 × 5 ft (3048 × 1524 mm) | 3 | 4 | 16 | 27.3% | exact |
| 10 × 4 ft (3048 × 1219 mm) | 4 | 4 | 21 | 33.7% | 1 ft off |
| 6000 × 1500 mm | 4 | 2 | 10 | 54.2% | 4 ft 8 in off |
| 3000 × 1500 mm | 4 | 4 | 20 | 54.2% | 4 ft 8 in off |
8 × 5 ft (2438 × 1524 mm) wastes the least here — 17 sheets at 8.2% over the surface you actually need, and the rings land exactly on the shell height.
Waste here is bought area over required area. Sheet count alone favours the biggest size even when most of the last one is scrap, which is why it is not the ranking.
Areas & net weight
- Shell area
- 43.78 m² (471.2 ft²)
- Top area
- 7.3 m² (78.5 ft²)
- Bottom area
- 7.3 m² (78.5 ft²)
- Total area
- 58.37 m² (628.3 ft²)
- With 10% wastage
- 64.21 m² (691.2 ft²)
- Net steel weight
- 2.291 t (2,291 kg / 5,051 lb)
- Sheets by area (theoretical)
- 22 — perfect nesting only
Why two sheet counts?
Dividing total area by sheet area gives 22 sheets, but that assumes you can use every offcut with no seams. Rolling the shell as 4 courses of whole sheets gives 22, which is what actually arrives on site. Order against the larger figure.
Neither count includes nozzles, manholes, stiffeners, or the extra plate consumed by lap joints — add those from your own drawings.
Need the size first?
The tank & vessel calculator works out diameter and height from a required capacity.