Design of tensegrity structures for supporting deployable mesh antennas

This paper is an attempt to develop a design methodology for a special deployable structure for potential use in micro-satellites. The basic form of this structure is a hexagonal prismatic tensegrity structure, which, after being rigidified, is used as the supporting structure of a mesh-like antenna. Here, the objectives of presenting the design methodology are to prevent structural elements from failure, while maintaining the structural natural frequency and mesh tension above an intended value and in addition, to minimize the overall mass. Here, the suggested design strategy combines the need for a behavioral study (i.e. fast and wide range evaluation) at the beginning of the design, with the goal of an exact optimum design in the final stages. It is shown that the final design chart possesses a multi-linear behavior, which could highlight the major effects of internal forces and construction constraints on the design.