Finite element based form-finding algorithm for tensegrity structures外文电子书籍.pdfVIP

International Journal of Solids and Structures 46 (2009) 3235–3240 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Solids and Structures journal homepage: www.else /locate/ijsolstr Finite element based form-finding algorithm for tensegrity structures M. Pagitz a, J.M. Mirats Tur b,* a Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK b Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial (CSIC-UPC), C/Llorens i Artigas 4-6, Barcelona 08028, Spain a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: This paper presents a novel form-finding algorithm for tensegrity structures that is based on the finite Received 31 October 2008 element method. The required data for the form-finding is the topology of the structure, undeformed Received in revised form 16 February 2009 bar lengths, total cable length, prestress of cables and stiffness of bars. The form-finding is done by mod- Available online 3 May 2009 ifying the single cable lengths such that the total cable length is preserved and the potential energy of the system is minimized. Two- and three-dimensional examples are presented that demonstrate the excel- Keywords: lent performance of the proposed algorithm. Tensegrity 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Form-finding 1. Introduction