"under a strain" is correct and usable in written English.
This phrase implies that someone or something is experiencing difficulty or stress. For example, "The factory workers have been under a strain since the company reduced their hours."
The Federal Reserve's beige book, which provides readings on the economy by region, indicated that Americans were under a strain from rising energy and food costs.
It will recount and analize the occasions upon which great men have cracked under a strain which wouldn't bother ordinary mortals.
Matar movingly charts the ways in which love endures in situations of great repression, but also shows how repression threatens everything, even love, putting relationships under a strain that can be unendurable.
Sherman Alexie works under a strain most writers don't, as the Indian writer, or maybe the important Indian writer, or at least the important Indian writer of the moment.
The resistance variation was approximately 22 % when the encapsulated 120° serpentine pattern was under a strain of 3%%.
The CCGA demonstrates a high compressive strength of 106.1 kPa under a strain of 80%.
After consolidation, the specimens were tested under a strain-controlled loading rate of about 1 mm/min to axial strain of approximately 25%, yielding a typical time to failure of about 20 min.
Fund-raising, a strain under any circumstance, is a monumental hurdle for the retiring Cistercians.
Under a scientific strain exchange agreement concluded during the Clinton administration, Russia was supposed to provide a sample of the strain.
Prison officials say the system remains secure, but they agree it is under a growing strain.
Too much inventory for sale may put a developer under a financial strain.
