Column Buckling Load Calculator

A slender column under compressive load can fail by buckling — sideways deflection under load — at a stress well below the material's yield strength, long before it would fail by simple crushing. This calculator determines whether a column is "long" (failing per Euler's formula) or "intermediate" (failing per the Johnson formula) based on its slenderness ratio, then calculates the critical buckling load accordingly.

See our Young's Modulus Calculator if you need to find the elastic modulus for your material first, and our Material Strength chart for yield strength values.

This section first calculates the critical slenderness ratio, C_c for the material whose properties are entered, compares this C_c value with the slenderness ratio of the column and if the slenderness ratio is greater than C_c, the buckling load is calculated by the Euler formula, whereas if the slenderness ratio is less than C_c, the Johnson formula is used.

Enter your values, select your units and End Fixing Type.

BUCKLING LOAD CALCULATOR

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What's the difference between the Euler and Johnson formulas?

Euler's formula applies to long, slender columns where buckling occurs well within the elastic range; the Johnson formula applies to shorter, "intermediate" columns where the material would start to yield before pure elastic (Euler) buckling would occur. The calculator selects the correct one automatically based on the column's slenderness ratio.

Does end fixing type make a real difference to buckling load?

Yes, significantly — a column fixed at both ends can support roughly four times the buckling load of the same column pinned at both ends, since the effective length (the portion that behaves like a pinned-pinned column) is halved.