An Investigation into the Stability of Continuous and Discontinuous Strut Tensegrity Grids Composed of Triangular Simplexes

Tensegrity systems are spatial reticulated systems rigidified by a state of selfstress. In the present study, the stability of geometrically flexible tensegrity grids, composed of triangular tensegrity prisms, is investigated by carrying out nonlinear collapse analyses using finite element method.
Furthermore, the effects of configuration (continuous or discontinuous strut configurations), type of boundary conditions and stress-strain relation of tensioned members are investigated on the stability of tensegrity grids. The results of analyses indicate that the type of configuration, boundary conditions and stress-strain relation of tensioned members have considerable effect on the type of collapse mechanism, strength and structural stiffness of studied systems.