What display will your class share?
3
Understanding struts
The shelves that your pupils might design for the display can be supported in two main ways - using ties or using struts. Struts are more complex than ties. They are made of a stiff material and join the front end of a shelf back to a point on the wall below where the shelf it is resting against the wall. The load on the shelf causes the strut to be squashed or put into compression.
The angle of the strut is important. The smaller the angle between the strut and the shelf the greater is the load on the strut. If the load on the strut gets too large it will fail. The compressive strength of the strut will depend on not only the strength of the material it is made from and its thickness but also its length. The longer the strut the more likely it is to fail by buckling without actually breaking.