Unit Converter category
Pressure and Stress Converter
Pressure units serve two jobs in construction: material strength (concrete grades, steel yield, glass stress) and fluid or air pressure in services. Both share the pascal base, so this converter covers structural and mechanical work.
Units covered
Pascals and kilopascals suit wind and imposed loads. Megapascals express material strength: a C30 concrete has 30 MPa characteristic cylinder strength. Bar, millibar and atmospheres are common in plant and pipework data, while psi dominates North American specifications.
- PascalPa
- KilopascalkPa
- MegapascalMPa
- Barbar
- Millibarmbar
- Atmosphereatm
- Pounds per square inchpsi
Where it is used
- Reading a concrete strength given in psi into MPa for a Eurocode check
- Converting a wind pressure from kilopascals to psf-adjacent imperial documentation
- Checking a pump or valve rating quoted in bar against a system design in kPa
- Comparing a glass or sealant stress limit across two supplier datasheets
Pressure conversions (42)
Each conversion opens the live converter with that pair preselected, plus the exact factor, worked examples and answers to common questions.
From Pascal (Pa)
From Kilopascal (kPa)
From Megapascal (MPa)
From Bar (bar)
From Millibar (mbar)
From Atmosphere (atm)
One megapascal is one newton per square millimetre
MPa and N/mm² are numerically identical, which is why structural drawings use them interchangeably. Reading a 30 MPa concrete as 30 N/mm² needs no conversion at all.
Gauge against absolute
Services data usually gives gauge pressure, measured above atmospheric, while thermodynamic calculations expect absolute. Converting the number is only half the job: check which datum the source used before comparing two figures.
Related converter categories
- AreaPressure is force divided by area
- Mass and WeightLoads originate as mass
- TemperaturePaired with pressure in services calculations