Do strut remnants have any effect?

[bayesian_acolyte]

I launched a few spaceship pieces to be assembled in orbit without realizing that the ends of the struts used to stabalize the payloads when launching would be left behind. I'm trying to complete a challenge from the challenge forum, and my design has thin margins (light weight Eve ascent vehicle). All my testing was done without these strut ends, and I'm worried that if they have any physics impact it might kill the mission. I understand struts themselves are physicsless parts but adding their properties to the parent part could have a significant impact. Launching the ship parts again without any struts and re-assembling it wouldn't be too difficult, but I'm lazy and curious.

Do strut remnants have any physics impact on the craft they are attached to?

[OHara]

You'll notice after a save/reload that only the end of the strut placed first remains. 
As I remember, the 50-kg mass is added to the part to which the strut is first attached, and remains on that part.
I tried to measure drag of struts and found it to be negligibly small or zero.

So if you placed the struts by starting them on the parts to be dropped, their second ends should have no effect on the later stages.

I haven't tested this in a long while, so let your curiosity triumph over laziness when you get the chance.

[bayesian_acolyte]

Thanks for the quick reply. I decided to take your advice and run a few tests which confirmed everything you said.

16 minutes ago, OHara said:

 

I haven't tested this in a long while, so let your curiosity triumph over laziness when you get the chance.

First I de-orbited the craft, turned the visual drag indicators to max, and zoomed in on the struts as the craft plummeted to its demise. I didn't see any drag. IIRC physicless parts still show drag on themselves instead of on the parent but I'm not 100% on this.

Second I added up my exact mass of compnent crafts and compared them to the completed product, which was easy since I hadn't burned any fuel. I did notice an extra 50 kg for each remaining strut. 

Normally that amount of extra weight would be negligible, but it might make the difference for this craft. Re-launch it is.