Re-entrant tensegrity: A three-periodic, chiral, tensegrity structure that is auxetic

Abstract: We present a three-periodic, chiral, tensegrity structure and demonstrate that it is auxetic. Our tensegrity structure is constructed using the chiral symmetry {\Pi}+ cylinder packing, transforming the cylinders themselves to the elastic elements and cylinder contacts to incompressible rods. The resulting structure displays local re-entrant geometry at its vertices, and is shown to be auxetic when modelled as an equilibrium configuration of spatial constraints subject to a quasi-static deformation. When the tensegrity structure is subsequently modelled as a lattice material with elastic elements, the auxetic behaviour is again confirmed through finite element modelling as well as demonstrated with a 3d printed example. The cubic symmetry of the structure means that the behaviour is independent of the chosen stretching direction and the auxetic behaviour is observed in both perpendicular directions. This structure could be the simplest three-dimensional analogue to the two-dimensional re-entrant honeycomb. This, alongside the chirality of the structure, make it an interesting design target for multifunctional materials.