Design of Compressive Structures

In this chapter we determine the best tensegrity configuration and string connectivity to minimize mass of a structure in compression, subject to a constraint on buckling strength and subject to the use of self-similar iterations (where we replace a bar with yet another tensegrity system). Of course, using self-similar iterations to fill space might not yield minimal mass over all other possible arrangements of members that are not restricted by a self-similar rule, but the simplicity of the math and the beauty of the symmetry are attractive as a starting point for further optimizations of structures.