Structural Components are one of the two basic building blocks of the Construction Industry. A structural component approximately represents a one meter long beam that can be added to to increase the Structural Integrity of a structure. Structural Components have a variable Density which provide a spectrum of options for any construction design.
Structural components are applied in any quantity that you wish. The minimum number of structural components used in any construction is the amount needed to support the minimum structural integrity. The maximum number of structural component used is based on the volume. A facility, station, or room can only have 25% of its volume dedicated to structural components.
Because structural component usage is variable, a player can use many weaker structural components or fewer stronger structural components and achieve similar results.
Structural components can be built as a low density or high density component. Low density structural components will take up more volume for the same mass, hence they are lower density over all. These components can be useful when you need extremely high structural integrity or if the metal is difficult to source (More structural integrity per unit of metal).
Think of a low density structural component as a Girder or Truss.
High density structural components are designed to use less space, but offer less unit structural integrity. These components can be useful when material is both strong enough and readily available.
Think of a high density structural component as a single Pillar or I-beam.
The trade off between sourced meterial, volume, and strength allows for a lot of flexibility to make designs that are optimal for a given use case.