Development and Analysis of a Prototype Dismountable Tensegrity Structure for Shelter Purposes

This paper presents a new technique for development of tensegrity structures and their deployment in field, in two different modes strut based and cable based. A prototype module based on a half-cuboctahedron configuration is fabricated using commercially available materials. A new method of deployment is introduced for easy assembling and dismantling in field. The proposed structure and the associated technique is specially suitable for erecting temporary shelter structures. An experimental investigation is carried out on the prototype structures to obtain the prestress level, deflection pattern, forces in various members and the overall load carrying capacity of the module. The structures are analyzed using finite element method (FEM), considering the prestress level in the top cable obtained from experiments in the strut mode and the prestress in struts in cable mode as reference values. The results of experimental and numerical investigations are compared and reasonable agreement is found.