DYNAMIC RELAXATION OF TENSEGRITY STRUCTURES 553 DYNAMIC RELAXATION OF TENSEGRITY STRUCTURES A Computational Approach to Form Finding of Double-layer Tensegrity Grids

The structural hierarchy inherent to tensegrities enables a building skin that performs on multiple levels simultaneously. While having one function in the global building mechanics, its individual components can work as self-contained systems balancing tensile and compressive forces locally within them. The behavior of elements under load is linear and thus describable analytically. When these are aggregated in a tensegrity however, the performance of the assembly as a whole is non-linear. In order to investigate further these relationships a method of dynamic relaxation will be developed. This tool allows for simulation and load analysis of a complex tensegrous network, based on the relationships between force, stiffness and dimension formulated by Young and the computational means provided by a parametric/associative modeling environment. This research investigates the possible formfinding through computational means of a double-layer tensegrity grid.