Minimum mass design of tensegrity bridges with parametric architecture and multiscale complexity

• We present a parametric design methodology for tensegrity bridges.
• We generate minimum mass shapes through self-similar iterations.
• The design variables consist of two complexity parameters and two aspect angles.
• The minimum mass complexity of the bridge has a multiscale character.

We present a design methodology for tensegrity bridges, which is inspired by parametric design concepts, fractal geometry and mass minimization. This is a topology optimization problem using self-similar repetitions of minimal mass ideas from Michell (1904). The optimized topology is parametrized by two different complexity parameters, and two aspect angles. An iterative optimization procedure is employed to obtain minimum mass shapes under yielding and buckling constraints. Several numerical results are presented, allowing us to explore the potential applications. The given results show that the minimum mass complexity of the optimized bridge model has a multiscale character, being discrete with respect to the first complexity parameter, and markedly or infinitely large with respect to the second complexity.