Euler Column Buckling
Change length and end restraints to move a column’s stability threshold.
Free theory articleChange length and end restraints to move a column’s stability threshold.
Concept & interpretation
Euler's column formula predicts the critical load at which an ideal, slender, straight column will suddenly bend or buckle. This model assumes the material remains perfectly elastic and that small deflection theory applies.
Experiment
You can interact with these variables in the Euler Column Buckling module.
- Set Supports to "Fixed free". Observe how the effective length doubles, meaning the column behaves like a pinned column twice as long, and the critical load is drastically reduced to roughly 5181.54 N.
- Set Supports to "Fixed fixed" and increase the Length meters to 2. The effective length factor K becomes 0.5, bringing the effective length back to 1m, and restoring the critical load to ~20726 N.
- Change the Load fraction to 1.5. Because the load exceeds P_cr, the stability margin becomes negative (-0.5), indicating a supercritical unstable state.