What’s on the Compression and Tension poster
A 7-row table: Material · Compression · Tension.
What each material is good at carrying.
- Masonry — Strong — Very weak
- Plain concrete — Strong — Very weak
- Reinforced concrete — Strong — Steel takes it
- Steel — Strong — Strong
- Timber — Good — Good with grain
- Cable — None — Strong only
- Glass — Good — Unreliable
Reinforcement sits where the concrete would crack, which is why bars go low at midspan and high over supports.
Questions about the Compression and Tension poster
- What’s on the Compression and Tension poster?
- A 7-row table: Material · Compression · Tension. What each material is good at carrying. Masonry — Strong — Very weak; Plain concrete — Strong — Very weak; Reinforced concrete — Strong — Steel takes it; Steel — Strong — Strong; Timber — Good — Good with grain; Cable — None — Strong only; Glass — Good — Unreliable. Reinforcement sits where the concrete would crack, which is why bars go low at midspan and high over supports.
- Who is the Compression and Tension poster for?
- Compression and Tension belongs to the Architecture section rather than to a school year, because design is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning structure can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Compression and Tension poster?
- Use it to check an idea in seconds. A material in the wrong force is the usual failure. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Compression and Tension belongs on the wall where that design work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Compression and Tension?
- Arches, Vaults and Domes, How a Beam Works and Cantilevers sit alongside Compression and Tension in the Architecture section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Arches, Vaults and DomesHow a Beam WorksCantilevers
- Is the Compression and Tension poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Compression and Tension downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Architecture section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Compression and Tension poster print at?
- Compression and Tension is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Compression and Tension loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Compression and Tension on the same wall.
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