Compression Force on square tube

[oak123]

Can someone give some pointers on how to calculate the compression force of a steel square tube 4" tall x 2" wide x 0.125" wall thickness. I would like to know how much weight can be applied before the steel tube begins to deform. However, everywhere I look, I only see numbers for tensile strength and I'm not sure if this is completely applicable here. I understand that the vertical sides will be under tension so is the tensile strength the only thing I should be concerned about? Hope my paint drawing is clear.


4 x 2 x 0.125"
yield strength: 71,000
tensile: 76,000
A36 steel
moment of inertia: 1.51 units^4
section modulus: 0.75 units^3

[Kelly_Bramble]

Have you seen the following webpage?

Beam Stress, Deflection Analysis

[oak123]

Have you seen the following webpage?

Beam Stress, Deflection Analysis

Thanks. I did not see that.

[JAlberts]

Another item to be analyzed is the contact area where which each load is being applied to determine if the top tube will be subject to localized buckling at those points.