Tensegrity Structures for Energy Absorption in Aerospace Landing and Reusable Rocket Systems

As the industry advances toward reusable launch systems and robust landing technologies, the need for crushable materials that can efficiently dissipate energy while maintaining high structural recovery becomes critical. Traditional architected metamaterials and structures often fail due to highly localized stress concentrations leading to deformation, strut buckling, or surface cracks which then propagate and compromise structural integrity. In contrast, tensegrity structures—geometrically intricate frameworks of tension and compression components—offer a promising alternative by delocalizing the deformation. If a failure occurs within a compression ring of a tensegrity, the deformation or damage remains localized to the ring, isolated from the rest of the lattice. This delocalized failure mechanism enables increased resilience and energy dissipation compared to standard lattice structures.1 Despite their potential, tensegrity structures have yet to be optimized for impact absorbing applications. This paper focuses on optimizing tensegrity lattice structures for high crushing efficiency. Crushing efficiency is an effective way to measure impact-absorbing structures, where the energy per unit volume up to the point of densification (large stress increase) is divided by the peak stress up to that point.2 Through finite element analysis (FEA) simulations and experimental validation, we demonstrate tensegrities potential for enhanced energy dissipation and structural recovery by varying strut diameter, relative density, and material selection (Flexible 80A, Tough 2000, and Standard Resin). These structures are then subjected to quasi-static and dynamic impact conditions to simulate scenarios such as landing gear touchdown and reusable rocket booster re-entry. We implement a damage initiation and evolution model in ABAQUS to evaluate failure mechanisms and energy dissipation based on gathered experimental data. Our results suggest that tensegrity lattices exhibit superior crushing efficiencies compared to conventional lattices like the body centered cubic lattice and honeycomb lattice structures, primarily due to controlled buckling and progressive failure mechanisms. Applications of tensegrity lattices in aerospace systems are examined in case studies, with a focus on landing gear and reusable rocket boosters. In landing gear systems, tensegrity lattices could serve as crushable inserts within landing gear struts, potentially reducing peak impact forces and mitigating the transfer of forces to the vehicle frame during high-velocity landings. For reusable rocket boosters, tensegrity lattices could be integrated into the aft skirt to manage re-entry and landing loads, ensuring structural integrity for subsequent reuse. Their scalability further supports integration across various booster designs. This work outlines a transformative approach to energy absorption in aerospace systems using tensegrity lattices. By combining advanced material innovation with simulation and experimental techniques, these structures address critical challenges in high-impact scenarios while aligning with the aerospace industry’s goals of sustainability and reusability. Citations: 1Bauer, J., Kraus, J. A., Crook, C., Rimoli, J. J., & Valdevit, L. (2021). Tensegrity Metamaterials: Toward Failure‐Resistant Engineering Systems through Delocalized Deformation. Advanced Materials, 33(10). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202005647 2Abdalsalam Fadeel, Abdulhadi, H., Golam Newaz, Srinivasan, R., & Mian, A. (2022). Computational investigation of the post-yielding behavior of 3D-printed polymer lattice structures. Journal of Computational Design and Engineering, 9(1), 263–277. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcde/qwac001