On the impulsive dynamics of T3 tensegrity chains
Taking the cue from two recent papers, Fraternali et al. (J Mech Phys Solids 60:1137 1144, 2012) and Fraternali et al. (Appl Phys Lett 105:201903, 2014) we sample numerically the impulsive dynamics of chains consisting of T3 tensegrity modules. We concentrate on illustrating the effects of the kinetic coupling between axial strain and twist, a distinguishing feature of T3 modules that was switched off in the cited papers; in addition, we demonstrate by examples that another feature of T3 modules, their 'handedness' induces certain peculiar behaviors in chains made of both left handed and right handed modules. In our study, we consider a number of T3 chains, different in composition and subject to various end conditions.