Inverse analysis of erection process for prismatic tensegrity structures with redundant cables

Firstly, a new kind of prismatic tensegrity structures with redundant cables is defined, the topology, geometry and forming conditions of which are introduced further. The development of its mechanical properties including self-stress states and structural stiffness with the increment of the twist angle is also investigated carefully. Combined with the topology of this kind of structures, a reasonable erection scheme is proposed, in which some temporary lifting points need to be set and two groups of vertical cables are tensioned in batches. Then, a simplified dynamic relaxation method is employed to track the erection process inversely, which aims to predict each intermediate equilibrium state during the construction, and give the key structural parameters that can effectively guide the construction. The removal of the active cables, the relaxation or tension of the passive cables are simulated by controlling their axial stiffness, so that the structural composition as well as the serial numbers of the elements always keep invariant regardless of the withdrawal of the slack cables. The whole analysis process is clear in concept, simple to implement and easy to popularize. Finally, several examples are given to verify the practicability and effectiveness of the proposed method further.