A New Genetic Algorithm-based Topology Optimization Method of Tensegrity Tori

This study mainly focuses on a new Genetic Algorithm (GA)-based topology optimization method of tensegrity tori with the ring stiffness set as the optimization objective. To do the structural analysis of self-equilibrated tensegrity tori, a modified stiffness matrix based form-finding method is introduced. A form finding procedure is adopted to generate new tensegrity tori in constant mass with only topology and rest length given. An innovative encoding scheme in GA is proposed to represent tensegrity tori with new sets of topology, prestress, and configuration. Numerical examples demonstrate that the proposed method is efficient in the topology optimization of tensegrity tori with high ring stiffness.