International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 89 (2014) 462469

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Mechanical Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmecsci

Optimum self-stress design of cablestrut structures

using frequency constraints
Seunghye Lee, Jaehong Lee n
Department of Architectural Engineering, Sejong University, 209, Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 24 July 2014
Received in revised form
17 October 2014
Accepted 21 October 2014
Available online 28 October 2014

This paper investigates the force identication of pre-stress levels using the natural frequencies of cablestrut
structures. Optimum self-stress design is conducted by using the conditions under which a cablestrut system
can get rise to a maximum state of stiffness. A genetic algorithm is used as a global search technique for the
maximization of natural frequency with an equilibrium constraint. Because the proposed method does not
demand the eigenvalue decomposition of the force density matrix or the singular value decomposition of the
equilibrium matrix, an initial single integral feasible self-stress mode for cablestrut structures can be
effectively obtained. Several cablestrut structure examples are utilized to demonstrate the validity and the
reliability of the proposed method.
& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Cablestrut structures
Self-stress design
Force method
Genetic algorithm

1. Introduction
This paper gives an optimum self-stress design method for
pre-stressed pin-jointed structures. The pin-jointed structures are
classied as trusses or pre-stressed structures, which in turn can be
further classied into two types: tensile structure, such as cable nets,
or cablestrut structures [27]. Cable domes and tensegrity structures
are included in the class of cablestrut structures as special cases
[21]. The tensile structures consist of only the tensile member with
supports; the cablestrut structures, on the contrary, consist of a set
of discontinuous compressive components inside a set of continuous
tensile components with or without support, such as tensegrity
structures [17]. A tensegrity structure consists of cables and struts
that transmit tensile and compressive force, respectively. Distribution of member forces at the self-equilibrium state greatly contributes to the stiffness and the stability of cablestrut structures.
This paper covers a self-stress design for pre-stressed pin-jointed
structures with dynamic frequencies. In most existing methods, few
studies have been devoted to the vibrational characteristics of the
cablestrut structures, and investigations have had to rely on numerical simulations instead of analytical solutions [1]. As a widely used
form-nding method, the dynamic relaxation method addresses the
pseudo-dynamic issue and nds the equilibrium conguration of
cablestrut structures through the integration of a ctitious dynamic
equation [28,4,14]. This technique, however, merely turns a static
problem into a ctitious dynamic one.

Corresponding author. Tel.: 82 2 3408 3287; fax: 82 2 3408 4331.

E-mail address: jhlee@sejong.ac.kr (J. Lee).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2014.10.016
0020-7403/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sultan et al. [18] derive linearized equations of motion for tensegrity structures around arbitrary equilibrium congurations. Using
these equations, some important properties of the structures investigated (stability, stiffness, etc.) can be drawn. Tan and Pellegrino [19]
investigate the non-linear vibration of cable-stiffened deployable
pantographic structures, showing the dynamic effects in characterizing component nonlinearities in the results of this experiments.
Ali and Smith [2] also discuss dynamic behavior and vibration
control for a full-scale active tensegrity structure. In another paper
by Bel et al. [3], the design optimization and dynamic analysis of a
tensegrity-based civil structure are presented. The design optimization is conducted through a genetic algorithm that determines
solutions with minimum cost. Faroughi and Tur [9] presented an
algorithm consisting of the eigenvalue sensitivity and modal updating along with the mode tracking to analyze the vibrational properties of tensegrity structures. In this paper, vibration properties that
are close to the desired modal characteristics can be obtained via
experimental or theoretical analyses. More recently, Cheong et al. [5]
present a numerical correction algorithm for implementation of the
dynamics of tensegrity systems described by non-minimal coordinates while in another paper, Ashwear and Eriksson [1] investigate
the effect of pre-stress levels on the natural frequencies of tensegrity
structures. The spectrum of natural frequencies can be used as
indicators to obtain the target design.
This study presents an optimum self-stress design method for
cablestrut structures. The process of determination of member
forces for the structure with given shape is called the initial selfstress design. Using this method, the force identication of the
pre-stress level can be obtained by using the conditions under
which a cablestrut system can get rise to a maximum stiffness
state. In order to determine the maximum stiffness status of the

S. Lee, J. Lee / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 89 (2014) 462469

structure, fundamental frequency of the structure is maximized in

this study. Using these natural frequencies, conclusions identical
to the force nding can be drawn. Also of note is the fact that
the proposed method does not take into account any boundary
conditions and external loads. A genetic algorithm can then be
used as a global search technique for the maximization of natural
frequency. However, as the maximum stiffness state is not an
adequate condition of stability, a constraint for the equilibrium
state is also needed. The linear force density method is used as a
constraint to derive stability states for cablestrut structures. It is
worth mentioning that the proposed method does not demand the
eigenvalue decomposition of the force density matrix or the
singular value decomposition of the equilibrium matrix. Accordingly, the initial single integral feasible self-stress mode for cable
strut structures can be effectively obtained regardless of multiple
states of self-stress. Several numerical examples of cablestrut
structures are also presented to demonstrate the efciency of the
proposed method.

fk
6 lk
6
6
6 0
6
6
6
6
6 0
6
6
KG 6
6 fk
6
6 lk
6
6
6 0
6
6
6
4
0

463

fk
lk

3
0

0
0

fk
lk

f
 k
lk

fk
lk

fk
lk

fk
lk

fk
lk

fk
lk

fk
lk

fk
lk

7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
5

where Ek, Ak, lk and fk are the elastic modulus, section area, length
and member force of any member k k 1; 2; 3; ; b, respectively.
The matrix equation of a typical element can be expressed as the
standard eigenvalue problem.

3. Vibration analysis
2. Fundamental assumptions and stiffness matrix
3.1. Eigenvalue equation
2.1. Fundamental assumptions
In this study, we consider a tensegrity with a pre-specied
topology. Refer to a Cartesian coordinate system (O-xyz). The following
assumptions are made in the tensegrity grid structures:

 Members are connected by pin joints.

 The cross-sectional area of each member remains unchanged



during the deformation process.

Buckling of the strut is not considered.
There are no dissipative forces acting on the system.

KT  2 Mu 0

where is an eigenvalue and the square of the frequency of the free

vibration, and u is the corresponding eigenvector. The frequency is
then affected by the pre-stress vector in the geometrical stiffness
matrix. The linear element mass matrix is formulated as follows:
2
3
k Ak lk
k Ak lk
0
0
0
0
6 3
7
6
6
7
6
7

A
l

A
l
k
k
k
k
k
k
6 0
7
0
0
0
6
7
3
6
6
7
6
7

A
l

A
l
k
k
k
k
6 0
7
k
k
0
0
0
6
7
3
6 7
6
5
M6
7
k Ak lk
6 k Ak lk
7
6
0
0
0
0 7
6 6
7
3
6
7
6
7
k Ak lk
k Ak lk
6 0
0
0
0 7
6
7
6
3
6
7
4
k Ak lk
k Ak lk 5
0
0
0
0
6
3
2

In exploring the questions of the undamped free vibration of

the cablestrut structures, this paper will be limited to consideration of axial effects in the components.

2.2. Stiffness of cablestrut structures

The self-stress design is necessary for stabilizing the tensegrity
structures by activating the geometrical stiffness of the structure.
This study utilizes a tangent stiffness matrix to compose a self-stress
design algorithm, where geometric non-linearity has also been
considered. The tangent stiffness matrix for a pre-stressed cable
strut element is given by Guest [11] as follows:
K T K E KG

Natural frequencies are calculated using the classic eigenvalue

equation with the tangent stiffness matrix KT , mass matrix (M) and
displacement vector (u) assembled. Accordingly, the undamped free
vibration of the cablestrut elements at a dened self-stressed
conguration can be explained as Grandhi [10]

in which KE is the linear stiffness matrix, commonly used for smalldeformation truss analysis, and KG is the geometrical stiffness matrix
induced by the pre-stressed or self-stressed state. In a local coordinate system xyz, to build a nite element model of the cablestrut
element, each element is characterized by the following stiffness
matrices and geometrical stiffness matrices [13]:
2
3
Ek Ak
E A
0 0  k k 0 07
6 l
lk
k
6
7
6
7
0
0 0
0
0 07
6
6
7
6
0
0 0
0
0 07
7
KE 6
2
6 E k Ak
7
Ek Ak
6
7
0
0
0
0
6
7
l
l
k
k
6
7
6
7
0
0 0
0
0 05
4
0
0 0
0
0 0

where k is the material density. The current method was based on a

consistent mass matrix.

3.2. Scaling coefcient

In the following, eigenvalue equations are investigated by using
a genetic algorithm during each iteration that has a variable of the
member force. As previously mentioned, the tangent stiffness
matrix KT is composed of the linear stiffness matrix KE and the
geometrical stiffness matrix KG . Note that the member forces are
only considered as a mapping of 1; 1 onto  1, 1. If the values
of the actual element property are substituted into Eq. (4), the
tangent stiffness matrix KT is proportionless because the member
forces that vary between 1 and 1 are relatively too small. As a
consequence, a change of variables (member forces) does not
affect the eigenvalue equation and thus, Eq. (4) can be written by

464

S. Lee, J. Lee / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 89 (2014) 462469

using a scaling coefcient

as

KE KG  Mu 0
2

The relationship between the natural frequency and the level of

the scaling coefcient for a two-dimensional two-strut tensegrity
structure is shown in Fig. 2. If the scaling coefcient is less than
approximately 1  104, the member forces do not have an effect on
the change of the natural frequency. The natural frequency of this
structure signicantly increases from that of when the level of the
scaling coefcient is greater than approximately 1  105. Because it
is supposed that yielding of the cables occurs before buckling of
the struts, the yield stress value of the cable member must be
selected as the scaling coefcient. In this case, yield stress of
the wire rope is considered to be at 70%. The optimum scaling
coefcient line is shown in Fig. 2.

To investigate the effects of the scaling coefcient, a twodimensional two-strut tensegrity structure is considered (Fig. 1).
In this example, the material of the cable and the strut is assumed
to be steel with a modulus of elasticity of E210 GPa and density
7800 kg/m3. The values of the section area are selected as
Ac 0:2  10  4 m2 and As 7:0  10  4 m2 . For cables, wire rope
with a yield stress y;cable of 1400 MPa is used.
y
(3)

4. Self-stress design using a genetic algorithm

4.1. Fitness function

(6)

1.0m

(4)

In this study, a genetic algorithm was used to obtain the initial

integral feasible self-stress mode f 0 . A genetic algorithm is a
computer science technique based on the natural world used to
solve optimization problems [12]. In this genetic algorithm, random
populations of feasible solutions are applied to solve minimization
(or maximization) issues. In the proposed self-stress design problem,
the tness function maximizes the reciprocity of the natural frequencies of cablestrut structures. The force vector corresponding to
the maximum tness function that leads a maximum stiffness of
structures can then be obtained. However, the obtained force vector
that allows the stiffness of structures to be maximized does not
always occur with equilibrated states. Accordingly, when an equilibrium constraint is satised, the cablestrut structure is regarded to
have reached a state of equilibrium.

(2)
(5)

(1)
1.0m

Fig. 1. A two-dimensional two-strut tensegrity structure. The thick and thin lines
represent the struts and cables, respectively.

Maximize

7a

Subject to

Dx y z r 0

7b

where 0 is used to dene the tolerance. Eq. (7b) presents the relation between force densities and nodal coordinates of the tensegrity

Table 1
Results of the 2D three-module Snelson's X tensegrity beam with the grouping of 5.
Type

Member group

Member

Member force f 0
[15]
1 81:44 Hz

Cables

1
2
3

16
78
910

Struts

4
5

1114
1516

Fig. 2. Relationship between the natural frequency and the level of pre-stress for a
two-dimensional two-strut tensegrity structure.

1.0
0.5
1.0

1.0
0.5
1.0

 1.1
 1.1

 1.1
 1.1

(7)

0.5m

(2)

(11)

(12)

(9)

(1)
7

(6)

(15)

(16)

(10)

(5)
1

1m

(4)

(13)

(14)

1m

(8)

(3)
8

2
1m

Fig. 3. A two-dimensional three module Snelson's X tensegrity beam.

Present
1 81:44 Hz

S. Lee, J. Lee / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 89 (2014) 462469

Table 2
Results of the 2D three-module Snelson's X tensegrity beam with the grouping of 8.
Member

Member force f 0
[15]
1 81:34 Hz

Cables

Struts

1, 3, 5
2, 4, 6
6
78
910

1.0
1.0
0.4
0.5
0.5

1.0
1.0
1.0
0.5
1.0

6
7
8

1112
1314
1516

 1.1
 1.1
 0.4

 1.1
 1.1
 1.1

(10)

8
(5)
(7)

(11)

0.5m

4.2. Equilibrium equations

(8)

Let x, y, z A Rn denote the nodal coordinate vectors of the free

node, in x, y and z directions. In a state of self-stress, external
forces are considered to be zero and self-weights are ignored. As a
result, the equilibrium equations can be written as follows:
9

nn

where D A R is the force density matrix [20,8], or stress

matrix [6].
Instead of using the connectivity matrix C and force density
vector q, the force density matrix D can be written directly by
Vassart and Motro [26] and Connelly and Terrell [7] as
8
 qk
if nodes i and j are connected by member k
>
>
<
q
for i j

k
Di;j
kA
>
>
:
0
otherwise
10
in which denotes the set of members connected to node i.
The equilibrated states nding procedure of tensegrity structures requires rank deciency conditions of force density and
equilibrium matrices. It is clear that the number of zero eigenvalues of D is equal to the dimension of its null space. From Eq. (10),
it is obvious that D is always square, symmetric and singular with
a nullity of at least one since the sum of the elements of the row or
column of the force density matrix (D) always equals zero for any
tensegrity structure [22]. In a d-dimensional tensegrity structure,
the rank deciency of D has at least d useful particular solutions.
Therefore, the rank deciency condition is dened as
nD Z d 1

11

where nD is the dimension of null space or rank deciency of D.

0.5m

(6)

The linear force density method is used as the constraint in the

proposed algorithm (Eq. (7b)) to derive stability states of cable
strut structures. A d-dimensional (d 2 or 3) cablestrut structure
with b members and n free nodes can be expressed by the
connectivity matrix C A Rbn [25]. If member k connects nodes
i and j i oj, then the ith and jth elements of the kth row of the
connectivity matrix C are set to 1 and  1, respectively, as follows:
8
for p i
>
<1
8
Ck;p  1 for p j
>
:
0
otherwise

0.5m

structures. We will discuss the statement in greater length in the

following section.

Dx y z CT diagqCx y z 0 0 0

(9)

1 81:44 Hz

1
2
3
4
5

(2)

Present

0.5m

Member group

0.5m

Type

465

8
(14)

2
(12)
(3)

(15)

(16) 7
(4)

(13)
(1)

Fig. 4. The three-dimensional unit quadruplex module tensegrity grid: (a) plan
view and (b) isometric view.

Because the vector q that is used in Eq. (10) is the force density
or self-stressed coefcient, the force vector is converted into the
corresponding force density vector according to the relation
function as shown below:
qk

fk
lk

12

where any member k has a member force fk and a length of

element lk k 1; 2; 3; ; b. Additionally, the vector of unbalanced
forces f A Rdn dened as follows can be used to evaluate the
accuracy of the results:

f Dx y z

13

The Euclidean norm of f is used to dene the design error as

q
14
f T f

5. Numerical examples
5.1. 2D three module Snelson's X tensegrity beam
A three module tensegrity beam assembled from the basic
Snelson's X tensegrity is composed of eight nodes, six struts and 10
cables (Fig. 3). The members for cables and struts were chosen as a
two-dimensional two-strut tensegrity structure. The strut members
are assumed to be a solid circular steel cross-section with a section
area of As 7:0  10  4 m2 , whereas all cables share the same
section area of Ac 0:2  10  4 m2 . The material for both cables
and struts is dened by a modulus of elasticity of E210 GPa and

466

S. Lee, J. Lee / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 89 (2014) 462469

Table 3
Single integral feasible self-stress mode of the 3D unit quadruplex module tensegrity grid.
Type

Member

Force density (q)

[13]
4 Group
1 12:96 Hz

Present
4 Group
1 12:96 Hz

16 Group
1 12:74 Hz

13 Group
1 12:96 Hz

Lower cables

1
2
3
4

1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0

1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0

1.0
1.1
1.1
1.0

1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0

Upper cables

5
6
7
8

2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0

2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0

2.0
2.0
2.1
1.9

2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0

Bracing cables

9
10
11
12

2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0

2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0

2.0
2.1
2.2
2.0

2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0

Struts

13
14
15
16

 2.0
 2.0
 2.0
 2.0

 2.0
 2.0
 2.0
 2.0

 2.0
 2.0
 2.0
 2.1

 2.0
 2.0
 2.0
 2.0

density 7800 kg/m3. A steel rope has the effective E of the

material itself after twisting. The tensegrity beam is formed to have
ve self-stress states (s5) and no innitesimal mechanism (m 0)
[16]. Because the proposed method does not take into account any
boundary conditions, this structure has three rigid body motions
after the vibration analysis. Accordingly, the fourth lowest value is
chosen as the natural frequency.
In a previous study [15], various groupings were applied to the
form-nding process in order to determine the unique self-stress force
of each member. For comparison, the members are grouped into ve
and eight sets, and the results are obtained by the number of group
cases (Tables 1 and 2). The obtained self-stress force of each member is
normalized with respect to the member force of element 1. In each of
the two cases, each run of the genetic algorithm is conducted for 100
maximum generations, using a population size of 100. The tolerance 0
in Eq. (7b) is set to 0.001 and each cable and strut member is set to
upper and lower bounds of [0,1] and [1,0], respectively, with a
scaling coefcient of 1.96  104.
In the example of the group of ve (Table 1), the results of the
proposed method are in good agreement with those of the prior
study mentioned. The proportion of member forces is identical to
those of the previous study. The previous method requires an
appropriate coefcient vector in order to obtain the unique initial
integral feasible self-stress mode in the case of multiple states
of self-stress. By contrast, in the proposed method, the self-stress
design is performed using a maximum stiffness state that leads the
natural frequencies to be maximized. These results conrm that,
under a given condition, an optimum self-stress mode can be
obtained without any eigenvalue decomposition of the force density
matrix or singular value decomposition of the equilibrium matrix.
In other words, in the case of multiple states of self-stress, the
unique initial integral feasible self-stress mode can be easily derived
without a difcult and time-consuming process.
In the other grouping case, as shown in Table 2, the results differ
slightly from those of previous studies. The table shows greater
natural frequency, leading the structural stiffness to increase than
the previous study under the same conditions. This indicates that
the unique initial integral feasible self-stress mode is easily obtained
using the proposed method in the case of multiple states of selfstress, and the optimum results can be derived in a versatile manner
using the appropriate constraints. Also, the results are consistent

Fig. 5. The natural frequency and Euclidean norm of f curves according to an

increase of generation for the 3D unit quadruplex module tensegrity grid with the
grouping of 4.

with those of the ve group case. It can be seen from the two tables
that the case of the grouping of ve is superior to the case of the
grouping of eight.
5.2. 3D unit quadruplex module tensegrity grid
A quadruplex system (Fig. 4) comprising four struts and 12
cables, as studied by Kebiche et al. [13] and Tran and Lee [23],
is herein used for verication purposes. This three dimensional
structure is mentioned in many studies on the self-stress design of
cablestrut structures. The same members and materials as in the
above example were used. Based on the rank deciency of the
equilibrium matrix, the number of self-stress modes and innitesimal mechanisms of this system are found to be one (s1) and
three (m3), respectively, as presented in Tran and Lee [23]. The
obtained self-stress force density value of each member is normalized with respect to the force density of element 1. In order to
observe the tendency, 1000 maximum generations of the genetic
algorithm were conducted initially using a population size of 100

S. Lee, J. Lee / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 89 (2014) 462469

467

(6)

10

(37)

(7)

0.5m

3
0.5m

(18)

(19)

0.5m

0.5m

0.5m

0.5m

0.5m

(63)

(62)

2
(52)

(72) 7

(67)

(53)

(12)

(68)

(57)
(1)

(2)

(21)
(31)
(50)

16

(73) 12
(54)
(13)
(69)
(58)
11

(51)

19

0.5m

0.5m

21

24

(74)

14

(35)

18

(64)
17

(14)

(4)

28

(66)
(76)

24
(71)

(60)

16

(36)

(26)
23

(75) 22
(56)
(15)

19
(70)

(59)
(3)

(65)

(55)

0.5m

25

(25)

(34)

26

0.5m

0.5m

20

(24)
13

28

(30)

14

0.5m

(33)

(46)

(20)

15

(23)

(32)

(22)

(11)

11

27

23

(49)

10

5
3

(10)

(45)

(29)
(48)

25
(41)

18

(28)
(47)

22

(9)

(44)

13

(27)

20
(40)

(43)

8
(17)

17

(8)

(39)

(42)

15

12

(38)

21

27

(16)
(61)
26

(5)

Fig. 6. The three-dimensional ve quadruplex module tensegrity grid: (a) plan view and (b) isometric view.

Table 4
Single integral feasible self-stress mode of the 3D ve module quadruplex tensegrity grid.
Type

Member group

Member

Force density q
[13]
13 Group
1 2:29 Hz
0.1391

Present
13 Group
1 3:24 Hz
0.1549

11 Group
1 2:62 Hz
0.0804

4 Group
1 2:49 Hz
0.0141

Lower cables

1
2
3
4

1, 6, 11
24; 79
5, 10, 16
1215

1.0
1.0
1.0
1.9

1.0
1.4
1.3
2.6

1.0
1.1
1.0
1.9

1.0
1.0
1.0
2.0

Upper cables

5
6
7

17, 22, 27, 32

1820; 2325; 2830; 3335
21, 26, 31, 36

2.0
1.9
2.0

1.8
2.6
2.6

1.9
1.9
1.9

2.0
2.0
2.0

Bracing cables

8
9
10

37, 42, 47, 52

3840; 4345; 4850; 5355
41, 46, 51, 56

2.0
1.9
2.0

1.8
2.7
2.5

1.8
1.9
1.9

2.0
2.0
2.0

Struts

11
12
13

57, 62, 67, 72

5860; 6365; 6870; 7375
61, 66, 71, 76

 2.0
 2.0
 2.0

 1.8
 2.7
 2.5

 1.9
 1.9
 1.9

 2.0
 2.0
 2.0

with the tolerance 0 in Eq. (7b) of 0.001. The scaling coefcient is

set to 1.96  104.
The force density of each member group was directly set (Table 3).
The four group members are classed based on the prior study where
the force density results of the proposed method are in agreement
with those of the previous study. The lowest natural frequency and
Euclidean norm of f curves according to the increase of generation
are depicted in Fig. 5. It was observed that the lowest natural

frequency value increased with an increasing level of evaluation

generation. Also, it can be seen that the Euclidean norm value of f
that can be used to evaluate a state of equilibrium rapidly tends to
zero with an increasing number of generations. This indicates that an
optimum self-stress set of cablestrut structures is easily obtained
using the proposed method.
Additionally, an example in a 3D unit quadruplex module tensegrity grid without grouping was performed under the same

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conditions as the four group case. This differs in the force density
values between the two cases as shown in Table 3. The natural
frequency of the 16 group case is smaller than those of the four
group case. This result, therefore, shows that the four group case
offers an optimum self-stress set for this structure. However,
because constraints for obtaining uniform results on the algorithm
were not used, it is natural that the two results are not identical. To
obtain uniform force density results for the 16 group case, the
condition in which all strut members are sorted into one group is
additionally imposed to the 16 group case. As a result, the obtained
result reaches substantially the same results as those of the four
group case. Consequentially, this shows that the optimum results
can be obtained without further detailed grouping or any symmetric condition.
5.3. 3D ve quadruplex module tensegrity grid
The free-standing tensegrity grid assembled from ve quadruplex
modules analyzed by Kebiche et al. [13] and Tran and Lee [23]
is considered. The structure consists of 28 nodes, 20 struts and
56 cables (Fig. 6). In order to observe tendencies, 1000 maximum
generations of the genetic algorithm were rstly conducted using a
population size of 100. Eight innitesimal mechanisms (m8) and
nine independent self-stress modes (s 9) were determined based on
the rank deciency of the equilibrium matrix for the tensegrity grid
[16]. The material properties are the same as the 3D unit quadruplex
module tensegrity grid. Since this structure has multiple self-stress
states in most of the available methods [24], a second stage is needed
for the determination of a single integral feasible force density vector.
However, in the proposed method, an optimum single integral feasible
force density vector can be obtained directly without any additional
process.
For comparison, the obtained force density values for all elements are presented in Table 4 with the previous work. The 13
group members are classed based on a previous study by Kebiche
et al. [13]. In both results, symmetrical y-axis results are shown. The
results from using the proposed method are quite different from
those of the previous study. Also, the natural frequency of this
study 1 3:24 Hz is higher than those of the prior study
1 2:29 Hz. This numerical example indicates that, based on
the proposed method with a larger natural frequency leading the
structural stiffness to increase, the force density set is superior to
the previous study under the same conditions. However, when
controlling for design error as compared with the previous study,
the force density set of the previous study is more stable than those
of the present study. To obtain a more uniform force density set, the
condition under which all strut members are sorted into one group
is additionally imposed to the 13 group set. When comparing the
result of design error and natural frequency, the force density set of
the 11 group case is superior to the result of the previous study in
terms of equilibrium and stiffness.
In this 3D ve quadruplex module tensegrity grid example, a more
superior outcome than any other grouping case can be obtained with
the 4 group case. In the grouping of 4, the lower cables have the force
density value of 1.0, while the values of other elements (upper cables,
bracing cables and struts) are double (2.0 or  2.0) those of lower
cables. Because elements 1215 of the lower cables overlap the two
adjacent cells, the force density values have 2.0 (Table 4). This result is
identical to the force density set of the 3D unit quadruplex module
tensegrity grid. The natural frequency value of the 4 group case,
2.49 Hz, is an increase of about 8% from those of the previous study.
Also, the 4 group case has the lowest design error among all cases.
Therefore, the results show that the force density set of the 4 grouping
case displays the optimum results in terms of equilibrium and
stiffness, ensuring the most uniform result through the use of this
condition.

6. Conclusion
A numerical method has been proposed for the optimum selfstress design of cablestrut structures using dynamic behavior. The
natural frequencies of structures have been used to obtain the force
identication of the pre-stress level. The self-stress design is performed by using the conditions under which a cablestrut system can
rise to the maximum natural frequencies leading the stiffness to be
maximized. A genetic algorithm can then be used for the maximization of natural frequency within the equilibrium constraint.
The natural frequencies are calculated by the classic eigenvalue
equation with the tangent stiffness matrix, mass matrix and displacement vector assembled. However, if the values of the actual
element property are substituted into the eigenvalue, the tangent
stiffness matrix is proportionless. In this study, a scaling coefcient
leading to a modication of the eigenvalue equation is proposed.
Several numerical examples of cablestrut structures are also presented to demonstrate the efciency of the proposed method. In the
case of multiple states of self-stress, the unique initial integral feasible
self-stress mode can be easily derived without a difcult and timeconsuming process. These cases present superior force density results
that differ from those of previous studies.

Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a grant (14CTAP-C077285-01000000) from Infrastructure and transportation technology promotion research Program funded by MOLIT (Ministry Of Land,
Infrastructure and Transport) of Korean government and a grant
(2012R1A2A1A01007405) from NRF (National Research Foundation of Korea) funded by MEST (Ministry of Education and Science
Technology) of Korean government.
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