Tension icosahedron as a structure for use in terrestrial and outer space environments

Abstract An icosahedron is a regular polyhedron with 12 vertices and 20 triangular faces. An icosahedral shell has one of the largest volumes for its surface area, and is thus most desirable for structures made of large numbers of identical components, e.g. Fuller's geodesic domes. A modified form, the so-called tension icosahedron, has six edges which are compression elements (e.g. beams) and 24 edges which are tension elements (e.g. wires or cables). These modifications make it a structure which (1) can withstand loads that are greater than those for traditional structures, (2) has omnidirectional stability, independent of gravity, (3) can be folded into a compact form and then unfolded on demand, and (4) can be easily assembled into larger and more complex structures that retain the properties found in the single unit. In this paper, we quantify these attractive features, through computer modeling. These structures should be useful in terrestrial and outer space environment as a unit which has maximum static and dynamic stability for a minimum weight and which could be used in a modular construction of bigger structures.