Stanchion

A support is a (mostly) vertical component which mainly receives and transmits loads in the direction of its longitudinal axis. The concrete, reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete standard DIN 1045-1 defines a prop rod-shaped pressure member, the larger cross -sectional dimension - four times the smaller dimension does not exceed - in contrast to a wall.

As the material all building materials are suitable, which have sufficient compressive strength. In building will be used for this purpose among other things:

• Wood, then referred to as post, stand or stalk
• Natural stone
• Masonry made of artificial stones
• Concrete, reinforced concrete
• Metal - steel, aluminum (eg facades ), formerly also iron and cast iron
• Composite columns

The carrying capacity of a column depends on the strength of the selected material, the cross-sectional geometry, the length or height of the support, the storage conditions at the ends ( rotatable or clamped ), geometrical imperfections such as misalignment, warping or twisting, and the type and the combination of actions (s ) from.

Support of larger dimensions are also referred to as a pillar (e.g., bridge abutments ), as in embodiments in masonry and natural stone. Columns and piers are subject, as opposed to the column, no architectural order (base, shaft and capital ) or division ( column order ).

Basic solutions of the buckling problem of calculating the bearing capacity of a support were developed by the mathematician Leonhard Euler.

The prop in the classic order of columns

In classical column order, the term restraint is used as a collective element for load-bearing components. The support may be in the classical order have two different forms, which are seen as opposites: the pillar of square or polygonal cross-section and the column with a circular cross section.

Leon Battista Alberti defined as the pillar remnant of a perforated wall through openings. He associates it with the static effective core building and postulated that pillar should in principle bear bow. The support is understood as a freestanding unit that derives from the wooden architecture and listened to the area of ​​applied ornament. The column is thus a secondary unit, the need for which arises from the imperfections of the main edifice, which is static and not really necessary.

The prototype of the design elevation based on column and pillars as supports element is the exterior facade of the Colosseum in Rome. This pattern has been spreading through the treatises of Alberti, Serlio, Vignola, Palladio and Scamozzi the central motif modern building from the 15th to the early 20th century.

• Support ( component )