Dynamic characteristics and structural stability analysis of a large annular tensegrity structure with radial ribs

Abstract

PurposeIn order to make the aperture of spatial deployable antenna larger, this paper proposed the study on a spatial annular tensegrity structure with 100 m large scale, which could be one of the ideal solutions to improve the dimension of the antenna. This study is aiming to figure out the dynamic characteristic of ultra-large annular tensegrity and address the problem of insufficient rigidity with local modes that many ring truss-type deployable antenna structures have faced.Design/methodology/approachThis work is carried out based on the nonlinear dynamic modelling when fully considering the effect of bending and torsion deformation of beams, as well as the pretension of cables. Additionally, the structural stability analysis based on the proposed stability criterion is also presented to evaluate the tensegrity configuration with different distribution of cable groups.FindingsThis research results verify that the modified structure with radial ribs could eliminate the effect of the local vibration mode on stiffness and is suitable to meet the requirements of the annular tensegrity structure. Additionally, the calculation results demonstrate that the structural configuration of annular tensegrity with 36 groups of cables which share the nodes with radial ribs is more appropriate to enhance the stiffness and structural stability.Originality/valueA new large annular tensegrity structure with radial ribs and tensioned cables is proposed. Based on the proposed structural configuration, the positive definiteness of the tangent stiffness matrix is carried out as the criterion of stability and the composition of the analytical expression of the tangent stiffness matrix is analyzed. Four levels of tensegrity structure stability have been carried out and the influence of the structural parameters on the stability and the rigidity has been analyzed. A scaled-down prototype is developed to verify the feasibility of the design of the hoop-column-rib configuration by the deployment and dynamic experiment.