Non-linear dynamic analysis of tensegrity structures using a co-rotational method

• A new formulation, based on the dynamics of 3D co-rotational rods, is presented for the non-linear dynamic analysis of space truss structures.
• A closed-form equation is derived for the calculation of the inertia force, the tangent dynamic matrix, the mass matrix and the gyroscopic matrix.
• The new formulation is used to perform dynamic analysis of example tensegrity structures.
• The efficiency of the proposed approach is compared to the conventional Lagrangian method, and savings in computation of about 55%, 54% and 37% were achieved.

A new formulation is presented for the non-linear dynamic analysis of space truss structures. The formulation is based on the dynamics of 3D co-rotational rods. In the co-rotation method, the rigid body modes are assumed to be separated from the total deformations at the local element level. In this paper a new co-rotational formulation is proposed based on the direct derivation of the inertia force vector and the tangent dynamic matrix. A closed-form equation is derived for the calculation of the inertia force, the tangent dynamic matrix, the mass matrix and the gyroscopic matrix. The new formulation is used to perform dynamic analysis of example tensegrity structures. The developed formulation is applicable to tensegrity structures with non-linear effects due to internal mechanisms or geometric non-linearities, and is applied to two numerical examples. The efficiency of the proposed approach is compared to the conventional Lagrangian method, and savings in computation of about 55%, 54% and 37% were achieved.