Cylindrical Tensegrity Deployable Structure

The string-bar deployable structure should be a main direction for creating the new truss deployable structure applied in the spaceflight. A cylindrical tensegrtiy deployable structure is researched in the text. At first, referring to a cylinder folded with papers, a cylindrical tensegrity is presented in the text. Relationship between nodes and members of the structure is researched to set up the connectivity matrix. The coordinates of the nodes and connectivity matrix are applied further to obtain the lengths of all the members. Using nodes matrix, member matrices, connectivity matrix and external force matrix, the internal force density matrix of the tensegrity structure in equilibrium is solved. Considering the failure constraints, the force density of the members is optimized to get minimal mass of the structure. A model is built to verify the feasibility of the method for designing the tensegrity structure. Considering that lengths of all the bars are constant, length changes of all the strings are researched when the tensegrity structure is compressed and elongated along its axis. The methods for connecting the strings are analyzed further. All the analytical results are applied to set up an experimental model. The experimental model is tested to prove that the designed mechanism can be deployed and folded. So the design is successful. Through research in the text, a cylindrical tensegrity deployable structure is obtained. Methods for building the tensegrity structure and transforming it into a deployable structure can be proper to design of other deployable structures.