# How do I calculate the compressive strength of a wall?

I literally just have a thin steel wall that stands vertically with a load on top. The thin edges of the wall are oriented vertically with the load applied on top of the top thin edge, with the large planar faces of the wall facing horizontally to the sides. I thought there would be an easy calculation based on height, length, thickness (width) and a material parameter for the steel I’m using, but internet searches have yielded me no useful information as to the specific scenario I’m looking for. Is it not that simple to calculate wall strength based on a top loaded compressive force oriented vertically downward onto the height of the wall? Someone please help!

• The key word you are looking for is buckling. Note that if your thin wall isn't supported on the vertical edges than the section on plate buckling won't help, because your boundary conditions are totally different. Your wall will probably buckle pretty much like a 2-D column. Sep 9 '19 at 16:55
• The thing is, the wall shouldn't be designed so the thin panel carries any compressive load at all, except its own weight. There should be a frame round it to carry the loads. Sep 9 '19 at 19:27
• The Wallis supported at the bottom, and it is not an actual wall of a building. Think of a piece of sheet metal standing on its edge. Imagine the bottom is completely fixed and can’t move. I need to know how much force can be applied to the top of it before it would buckle or start to irreversibly compress. Sep 9 '19 at 19:40
• It will buckle , the compressive strength has nothing to do with it. Oct 10 '19 at 0:27

As a very conservative start you can use $$P_{Critical}= \frac{\pi^2EI}{(KL)^2}$$