Computational prediction of the stability of tensegrity structures

The lightweight nature of tensegrity structures calls for the formulation of computational tools that are able to analyze the stability problem of such structures, both in statics and dynamics. The present work analyzes the concepts of prestress-stability and superstability with reference to a special class of tensegrity structures recently appeared in the literature, named class theta tensegrity prisms. Such structures are formed by two triangular prisms superimposed one over the other, and two different sets of strings connecting the two prisms. The given results can be easily generalized to general tensegrity structures and can be usefully incorporated in form-finding and topology optimization codes.