On a Type of Single-Curved Cable-Strut Grids Generated by Semi-Regular Tensegrity

Abstract

Tensegrity is a novel structure which attracts structure engineers’ interest because of its light weight and efficient structural behavior. Nowadays researches are mainly concentrated in the area of regular and irregular tensegrity, both of which are not suitable in many situations on account of their shapes or member length conditions. Thus, a new concept of semi-regular tensegrity was proposed in this paper. Based on the singular value decomposition of equilibrium matrix, an enumerative algorithm for the form-finding of semi-regular tensegrity was presented. According to the distribution of the minimum singular value of matrix, the configuration of semi-regular tensegrity was discovered. The obtained tensegrity was used as modulus for the generation of single curved cable-strut grid. A numerical example was illustrated to indicate that the proposed tensegrity modulus was feasible and advantageous in constructing single-curved tensegrity grid. Finally, the future research in the area of semi-regular tensegrity and its application was prospected.