Yongcan Dong , Xingfei Yuan , Xin Wang , Akram Samy , Shuo Ma , Shilin Dong
{"title":"Simultaneous topology, configuration, and prestress optimization for lightweight design of modular tensegrity chain structures","authors":"Yongcan Dong , Xingfei Yuan , Xin Wang , Akram Samy , Shuo Ma , Shilin Dong","doi":"10.1016/j.tws.2025.113184","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Lightweight design has emerged as a valuable research focus in tensegrity structures, gaining increasing attention across various engineering domains that prioritize weight reduction. While many existing studies have concentrated on the lightweight design of conventional tensegrity structures, relatively little attention has been paid to those derived from modular assembly. This study focuses on a specific type of modular tensegrity chain structure (TCS) and presents a comprehensive framework for its lightweight design. The proposed framework innovatively integrates three critical design aspects: prestress determination, configuration design, and topology optimization, while simultaneously accounting for various design constraints under both prestress and load states. This framework is formulated as a bilevel optimization model. Prestress optimization is first performed at the internal level and then incorporated into the external-level model for configuration design and topology optimization. Subsequently, improved hybrid algorithms are also introduced to solve the optimization problem. Three representative numerical examples are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework and solving algorithms. The results demonstrate that this comprehensive approach achieves significant mass reduction compared to single-aspect designs. The proposed framework offers a more holistic and efficient solution for lightweight TCS design, showcasing its potential for enhancing the performance and efficiency of modular tensegrity structures in engineering applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49435,"journal":{"name":"Thin-Walled Structures","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 113184"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Thin-Walled Structures","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263823125002782","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, CIVIL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Lightweight design has emerged as a valuable research focus in tensegrity structures, gaining increasing attention across various engineering domains that prioritize weight reduction. While many existing studies have concentrated on the lightweight design of conventional tensegrity structures, relatively little attention has been paid to those derived from modular assembly. This study focuses on a specific type of modular tensegrity chain structure (TCS) and presents a comprehensive framework for its lightweight design. The proposed framework innovatively integrates three critical design aspects: prestress determination, configuration design, and topology optimization, while simultaneously accounting for various design constraints under both prestress and load states. This framework is formulated as a bilevel optimization model. Prestress optimization is first performed at the internal level and then incorporated into the external-level model for configuration design and topology optimization. Subsequently, improved hybrid algorithms are also introduced to solve the optimization problem. Three representative numerical examples are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework and solving algorithms. The results demonstrate that this comprehensive approach achieves significant mass reduction compared to single-aspect designs. The proposed framework offers a more holistic and efficient solution for lightweight TCS design, showcasing its potential for enhancing the performance and efficiency of modular tensegrity structures in engineering applications.
期刊介绍:
Thin-walled structures comprises an important and growing proportion of engineering construction with areas of application becoming increasingly diverse, ranging from aircraft, bridges, ships and oil rigs to storage vessels, industrial buildings and warehouses.
Many factors, including cost and weight economy, new materials and processes and the growth of powerful methods of analysis have contributed to this growth, and led to the need for a journal which concentrates specifically on structures in which problems arise due to the thinness of the walls. This field includes cold– formed sections, plate and shell structures, reinforced plastics structures and aluminium structures, and is of importance in many branches of engineering.
The primary criterion for consideration of papers in Thin–Walled Structures is that they must be concerned with thin–walled structures or the basic problems inherent in thin–walled structures. Provided this criterion is satisfied no restriction is placed on the type of construction, material or field of application. Papers on theory, experiment, design, etc., are published and it is expected that many papers will contain aspects of all three.