Typed up a reply and then it turns out the time-out had passed and I lost everything.
I don't feel like retyping it so ...
Sorry,
Wouter
Shall I have a go....
The strap is working mostly in tension not bending so its orientation (vertical or horizontal) is irrelevant, its stiffness is proportional to its cross sectional area only.
So as you say "A 30x3mm ss strap has 90sq mm of cross section, while a 6mm diam rod has 28sq mm of cross section" so the strap is stiffer.
Does that make sense?
All the best
Gareth
