LINEAR INVERSE ANALYSIS OF STRESS AND SHAPE CONTROL OF STRUCTURES WITH MEMBERS OF VARIABLE LENGTH

Abstract

There are many structures that are controlled their shapes and/or stress distribution by being actively varied the length of their members. Some of the structures with vibration control system, so-called variable geometry trusses and many of the tension structures are examples of such structures. One of the difficulties in the design and realization of such structural systems is how to grasp the relationship between the member length change, and their shapes and stress distribution. In this paper a simple and effective linear inverse theory for the control of such structures is described. Then its validity is proved by showing some numerical examples and the comparison with the results of real scale tests of a tensegrity frame.