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research article

Form-finding of tensegrity structures via rank minimization of force density matrix

Wang, Yafeng  
•
Xu, Xian
•
Luo, Yaozhi
January 15, 2021
Engineering Structures

This study proposes a general computational framework for the form-finding of tensegrity structures. The procedure is divided into two stages in which the member force densities and nodal coordinates are obtained respectively. In the first stage, the determination of force densities is transformed into a rank minimization problem regarding the force density matrix and then formulated into a semi-definite programming. The unilaterality condition of member forces and the positive semi-definiteness condition of force density matrix are incorporated as constraints. In the second stage, the determination of nodal coordinates is formulated into a constrained nonlinear programming model. The nodal positions and member lengths are assigned as constraints and auxiliary variables are introduced to homogenize the member lengths. The proposed formulation bypasses the number of self-stress states in a tensegrity structure thus applies to both tensegrity structures with single and multiple self-stress states. Different from existing studies that are based on the minimum required rank deficiency condition of force density matrix, the proposed method can handle tensegrity structures that have a force density matrix with rank deficiency greater than the required minimum number. Several examples are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method on different types of tensegrity structures.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1016/j.engstruct.2020.111419
Web of Science ID

WOS:000600332200005

Author(s)
Wang, Yafeng  
Xu, Xian
Luo, Yaozhi
Date Issued

2021-01-15

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Published in
Engineering Structures
Volume

227

Article Number

111419

Subjects

Engineering, Civil

•

Engineering

•

tensegrity structure

•

form-finding

•

force density method

•

rank minimization

•

semi-definite programming

•

constrained nonlinear programming

•

stability conditions

•

truss geometry

•

optimization

•

design

•

equilibrium

•

stiffness

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
IMAC  
Available on Infoscience
March 26, 2021
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/176387
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