How much weight can fiberglass strut support?

By Scott Patchan

Champion Strut™ wall brackets can support a maximum load rating of 750 lbs, while trapeze systems can support as much as 1,000 lbs.

Champion Strut™ wall brackets

Champion Strut wall brackets are typically used to support piping, electrical conduits, or cable trays that will be wall mounted. Each wall bracket has a maximum load rating of 750 lbs with a 3:1 safety factor on a uniformly distributed load. Bracket spacing may be determined by dividing 750 lbs by the piping, electrical conduit, or cable tray load by the total load in lbs/ft of piping, conduit, or cable tray including its intended material load (fluid or cable).

Trapeze Hanging Systems

Champion Strut trapeze hanging systems may be used to support piping, electrical conduits, or electrical cable trays in areas where the building structure doesn’t allow direct placement or supporting (I-beams, wall mounting, pipe racks, etc.). Care should be taken to ensure that the load is equally distributed on the hanger and that threaded rods are completely inserted fully into the beam clamps to achieve maximum thread engagement and threaded rod pull-out strength.

Spacing between trapeze and also the type of trapeze are important factors to determining how much weight fiberglass strut can support. For example, the Champion Strut trapeze systems can be designed in three different styles; utilizing the single back-to-back Champion Strut CS-Series profile CS-S20D, with the CS-S Series 1-5/8″ x 1-5/8″ profile CS-S10D with the strut opening facing down or the CS-S Series 1-5/8″ x 1-5/8″ profile CS-S10D with the strut opening facing up. 

Each type of trapeze hanging system has different loading capacities.

Back-to-Back Strut Trapeze

When utilizing this design and supporting a 100 lb/ft load, the spacing between each trapeze should not exceed 10 ft. Under these conditions, each trapeze will be supporting 1,000 lbs and yielding a support system safety factor of 3. When using the Champion Strut heavy-duty fiberglass beam clamps (PN# CS-BCH-500), care should be taken to ensure that the 1/2″ threaded rod is fully engaged within the beam clamp. The fiberglass hex nuts should not be over-torqued (8 ft/lbs max) and the load should be equally distributed over the trapeze hanger.

Single Strut (CS-S20) with Open End Facing Down Trapeze

When utilizing this design and supporting a 100 lb/ft load, the spacing between each trapeze should not exceed 5 ft. Under these conditions, each trapeze will be supporting 500 lbs and yielding a support system safety factor of 3. When using the Champion Strut™ heavy-duty fiberglass beam clamps (PN# CS-BCH-500), care should be taken to ensure that the 1/2″ threaded rod is fully engaged within the beam clamp. The fiberglass hex nuts should not be over-torqued (8 ft/lbs max) and the load should be equally distributed over the trapeze hanger.

SINGLE STRUT (CS-S20) WITH OPEN END FACING UP TRAPEZE

When utilizing this design and supporting a 100 lb/ft load, the spacing between each trapeze should not exceed 4 ft. Under these conditions, each trapeze will be supporting 400 lbs and yielding a support system safety factor of 3. When using the Champion Strut heavy-duty fiberglass beam clamps (PN# CS-BCH-500), care should be taken to ensure that the 1/2″ threaded rod is fully engaged within the beam clamp. The fiberglass hex nuts should not be over-torqued (8 ft/lbs max) and the load should be equally distributed over the trapeze hanger.

What is fiberglass strut channel used for?

Fiberglass strut channel is used in environments where metallic systems cannot withstand caustic or corrosive conditions.  

• Industrial applications
• Chemical plants
• Wastewater treatment plants
• Port authority and marine applications
• Refineries

Why Fiberglass?

Non-metallic fiberglass strut channel framing systems are corrosion-resistant, flame retardant, lightweight, and durable. Fiberglass’ resistance to corrosion contributes to an extended lifespan of the product when compared to more vulnerable metal substrates. Its light weight contributes to safer, easier installations. 

The system components include fittings, threaded rods, pipe clamps, fasteners, nuts and accessories, pipe and conduit hanger types, pipe hanging accessories, as well as wall support racks for framing, mounting conduit, and mechanical piping. The channels are supplied in standard 10-foot lengths, and also available in 20-foot lengths upon request. 

Fiberglass strut channel is manufactured using pultrusion, a continuous molding process whereby glass reinforcing fibers, glass mattings and UV-resistant surfacing veils are saturated with a liquid polymer (polyester or vinyl ester) resin and then carefully formed and pulled through a heated die to form a part. Pultrusion results in straight, consistent parts of virtually any length. Being that the pultruded component is internally reinforced with permanently bonded continuous glass fibers, it has great strength. In addition to being strong, pultruded components demonstrate excellent corrosion and fire resistance. These features make fiberglass channel an excellent choice for many corrosive industrial applications.

Why Champion Strut?

Champion Strut is a fiberglass non-metallic channel framing system that includes a complete line of non-metallic accessories, fasteners, hangers, pipe clamps, and channels. Champion Strut is a versatile, high-strength fiberglass framing system that has been successfully used in many highly corrosive applications including steel mills, wastewater treatment, rendering facilities, utilities, refineries, chemical plants, marinas, pulp and paper, desalination facilities, water reclamation facilities, theme parks, aquariums, pools, and underground vaults.

Champion Strut is available in both polyester (dark grey) and vinyl ester (beige) resin systems and channels incorporate UV inhibitors and surfacing veil which improves weatherability and inhibits UV degradation.

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