A novel method of determining the sole configuration of tensegrity structures

•A novel analysis method is presented for form-finding of tensegrity structures.•The EVD of the force density matrix and the SVD of the equilibrium matrix are performed.•An algorithm of determining the sole configuration of free-form tensegrities is provided.•Evaluation of design error is considered in the whole process.

A novel analysis method is presented for form-finding of tensegrity structures. The spectral decomposition of the force density matrix and the singular value decomposition of the equilibrium matrix are performed iteratively to find the feasible sets of nodal coordinates and force densities. An algorithm of determining the sole configuration of free-form tensegrities is provided by specifying an independent set of nodal coordinates, which indicates the geometrical and mechanical properties of the structures can be at least partly controlled by the proposed method. Several illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and robustness in finding self-equilibrium configurations of tensegrity structures.