Publication
Tensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation
| Summary: | This paper introduces a tensegrity metastructure—a geometry-governed, structural-scale assembly—composed of three-dimensional Class-3 D-bar units. A proof-of-concept module was fabricated by fused-filament 3D printing with PETG struts and TPU ties and tested under cyclic axial loading. The metastructure exhibits a nonlinear force–displacement response with a two-stage mechanism: an initial softening regime governed by energy dissipation, followed by a sharp stiffening triggered by a locking transition as the struts align with the loading axis. Finite-element simulations, calibrated with manufacturer material data and validated against experiments, accurately reproduce this behavior.A numerical parametric study demonstrates that the metastructure’s response can be tuned purely through geometry. Increasing the unit-cell orientation angle β leads to more than threefold gains in both stiffness and load capacity, and roughly a threefold increase in dissipated energy before locking. These results confirm the feasibility of geometry-based programmability, positioning tensegrity metastructures as lightweight, modular systems for adaptive mechanical performance in vibration mitigation, impact absorption, deployable architectures, and soft robotic mechanisms. |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | Santos, Filipe A. |
| Subject: | 3D printing Energy dissipation Locking behavior Tensegrity metastructures Tunable stiffness Bioengineering Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous) Engineering (miscellaneous) Mechanics of Materials Mechanical Engineering |
| Year: | 2025 |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Document type: | article |
| Access type: | open access |
| Associated institution: | Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| Language: | English |
| Origin: | Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| _version_ | 1879446744631083008 |
|---|---|
| author | Santos, Filipe A. |
| author_facet | Santos, Filipe A. |
| author_role | author |
| contributor_name_str_mv | CERIS - Polo NOVA DEC - Departamento de Engenharia Civil Elsevier RUN |
| country_str | PT |
| creators_json_txt | [{\"Person.name\":\"Santos, Filipe A.\"}] |
| datacite.contributors.contributor.contributorName.fl_str_mv | CERIS - Polo NOVA DEC - Departamento de Engenharia Civil Elsevier RUN |
| datacite.creators.creator.creatorName.fl_str_mv | Santos, Filipe A. |
| datacite.date.Accepted.fl_str_mv | 2025-12-01T00:00:00Z |
| datacite.date.available.fl_str_mv | 2026-02-03T10:11:01Z |
| datacite.date.embargoed.fl_str_mv | 2026-02-03T10:11:01Z |
| datacite.rights.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 |
| datacite.subjects.subject.fl_str_mv | 3D printing Energy dissipation Locking behavior Tensegrity metastructures Tunable stiffness Bioengineering Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous) Engineering (miscellaneous) Mechanics of Materials Mechanical Engineering |
| datacite.titles.title.fl_str_mv | Tensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation |
| dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv | CERIS - Polo NOVA DEC - Departamento de Engenharia Civil Elsevier RUN |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv | Santos, Filipe A. |
| dc.date.Accepted.fl_str_mv | 2025-12-01T00:00:00Z |
| dc.date.available.fl_str_mv | 2026-02-03T10:11:01Z |
| dc.date.embargoed.fl_str_mv | 2026-02-03T10:11:01Z |
| dc.format.none.fl_str_mv | application/pdf |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv | http://hdl.handle.net/10362/199952 |
| dc.language.none.fl_str_mv | eng |
| dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv | 3D printing Energy dissipation Locking behavior Tensegrity metastructures Tunable stiffness Bioengineering Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous) Engineering (miscellaneous) Mechanics of Materials Mechanical Engineering |
| dc.title.fl_str_mv | Tensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 |
| description | This paper introduces a tensegrity metastructure—a geometry-governed, structural-scale assembly—composed of three-dimensional Class-3 D-bar units. A proof-of-concept module was fabricated by fused-filament 3D printing with PETG struts and TPU ties and tested under cyclic axial loading. The metastructure exhibits a nonlinear force–displacement response with a two-stage mechanism: an initial softening regime governed by energy dissipation, followed by a sharp stiffening triggered by a locking transition as the struts align with the loading axis. Finite-element simulations, calibrated with manufacturer material data and validated against experiments, accurately reproduce this behavior.A numerical parametric study demonstrates that the metastructure’s response can be tuned purely through geometry. Increasing the unit-cell orientation angle β leads to more than threefold gains in both stiffness and load capacity, and roughly a threefold increase in dissipated energy before locking. These results confirm the feasibility of geometry-based programmability, positioning tensegrity metastructures as lightweight, modular systems for adaptive mechanical performance in vibration mitigation, impact absorption, deployable architectures, and soft robotic mechanisms. |
| dirty | 0 |
| eu_rights_str_mv | openAccess |
| format | article |
| fulltext.url.fl_str_mv | https://run.unl.pt/bitstreams/b8141cf0-2aa4-42b0-9381-adc857ad64ea/download |
| id | run_f8d04e19a39ccf44e58713992440cdf9 |
| identifier.url.fl_str_mv | http://hdl.handle.net/10362/199952 |
| inst_facet_str | urn:organizationAcronym:unl{{{_:::_}}}Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| instacron_str | unl |
| institution | Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| instname_str | Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| language | eng |
| network_acronym_str | run |
| network_name_str | Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| oai_identifier_str | oai:run.unl.pt:10362/199952 |
| organization_str_mv | urn:organizationAcronym:unl |
| person_str_mv | Santos, Filipe A. |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| repo_facet_str | urn:repositoryAcronym:run{{{_:::_}}}Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| reponame_str | Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| repository_id_str | urn:repositoryAcronym:run |
| service_str_mv | urn:repositoryAcronym:run |
| spelling | engenThis paper introduces a tensegrity metastructure—a geometry-governed, structural-scale assembly—composed of three-dimensional Class-3 D-bar units. A proof-of-concept module was fabricated by fused-filament 3D printing with PETG struts and TPU ties and tested under cyclic axial loading. The metastructure exhibits a nonlinear force–displacement response with a two-stage mechanism: an initial softening regime governed by energy dissipation, followed by a sharp stiffening triggered by a locking transition as the struts align with the loading axis. Finite-element simulations, calibrated with manufacturer material data and validated against experiments, accurately reproduce this behavior.A numerical parametric study demonstrates that the metastructure’s response can be tuned purely through geometry. Increasing the unit-cell orientation angle β leads to more than threefold gains in both stiffness and load capacity, and roughly a threefold increase in dissipated energy before locking. These results confirm the feasibility of geometry-based programmability, positioning tensegrity metastructures as lightweight, modular systems for adaptive mechanical performance in vibration mitigation, impact absorption, deployable architectures, and soft robotic mechanisms.application/pdfenTensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipationSantos, Filipe A.CERIS - Polo NOVADEC - Departamento de Engenharia CivilElsevierHostingInstitutionOrganizationalRUNe-mailmailto:run@unl.ptrun@unl.ptISSNIsPartOf2352-4316URNIsPartOfPURE: 151892932URNIsPartOfPURE UUID: dcd40b3a-5b2c-4163-a47c-2e473d85e3f4URNIsPartOfScopus: 105024077281URNIsPartOfWOS: 001620447900001URNIsPartOfORCID: /0000-0002-5815-4622/work/204629659DOIIsPartOf10.1016/j.eml.2025.1024202026-02-03T10:11:01Z2025-122025-12-01T00:00:00ZHandlehttp://hdl.handle.net/10362/199952http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2open access3D printingEnergy dissipationLocking behaviorTensegrity metastructuresTunable stiffnessBioengineeringChemical Engineering (miscellaneous)Engineering (miscellaneous)Mechanics of MaterialsMechanical Engineering4551171 bytesliteraturehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2application/pdffulltexthttps://run.unl.pt/bitstreams/b8141cf0-2aa4-42b0-9381-adc857ad64ea/download |
| spellingShingle | Tensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation Santos, Filipe A. 3D printing Energy dissipation Locking behavior Tensegrity metastructures Tunable stiffness Bioengineering Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous) Engineering (miscellaneous) Mechanics of Materials Mechanical Engineering |
| status | SINGLETON |
| subject.fl_str_mv | 3D printing Energy dissipation Locking behavior Tensegrity metastructures Tunable stiffness Bioengineering Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous) Engineering (miscellaneous) Mechanics of Materials Mechanical Engineering |
| title | Tensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation |
| title_full | Tensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation |
| title_fullStr | Tensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation |
| title_short | Tensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation |
| title_sort | Tensegrity metastructure with tunable stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation |
| topic | 3D printing Energy dissipation Locking behavior Tensegrity metastructures Tunable stiffness Bioengineering Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous) Engineering (miscellaneous) Mechanics of Materials Mechanical Engineering |
| topic_facet | 3D printing Energy dissipation Locking behavior Tensegrity metastructures Tunable stiffness Bioengineering Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous) Engineering (miscellaneous) Mechanics of Materials Mechanical Engineering |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10362/199952 |
| visible | 1 |
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