What you can do with the column calculation:

With this calculation you can dimension a timber column.

Mind following limitations:

Column is vertical.
There are no major or intended bowing under load.
Necessary size of bedding is not checked.
Snow load calculation is incorrect above 2000m MSL.
Calculation is valid for residantial buildings, not for assembly rooms, shops etc.
Live load is assumed to be of medium duration (-6 month). Tis is not allowed for industria factories, barns, storages and places with extensive gatherings.

Here an explanation of the values that have to be entered:

Dead Load / Selfweight / m2

Enter the self-weight of the construction lasting on the column.

If you have problems to calculate the weight checkout help here:

Maximum Live Load

Enter the maximum live load in kg on the column.

Snowload

Enter the maximum snowload lasting on the whole girder.

For further information click the info button :

Column Length:

Enter the height of the column in meters.

planned dimensions

Enter the dimensions you are planning to use for the column.

Timber Category

Enter the strength grade of the used Timber. Pinewood of standard quality is C24.

Here you get more information:

Service Class

Enter in which surrounding the girder will be used.

Further information here:

Euler buckling mode

Choose the kind how the column is fixed.

1. Euler mode: Fixed at the bottom, free at the top.

2. Euler mode: (corect mode for most cases) Pinned on both sides.

3. Euler mode: One side fixed, one side pinned.

4. Euler mode: Both side fixed.

A normal connection in wood construction (like normal connection to a girder, screwing to a base etc.) has to be considered as pinned connection.

Model produced as part of a University project to demonstrate the different Euler buckling modes and the effect of boundary conditions on the critical buckling load. (Grahams Child, Wikipedia Commons)