An element for thermal insulation between two building parts, including an insulating body to be arranged between the two building parts and reinforcement elements in the form of at least tensile elements, extending in the installed state of the element essentially horizontally and perpendicularly to the essentially horizontal extension of the insulating body through said body, and respectively projecting in the horizontal direction from the insulating body and here allowing a connection to one of the two building parts preferably made from concrete. The tensile reinforcement elements are formed as multi-part composite elements such that at least in the area of the insulating body they exhibit a central section projecting from the insulating body and at least partially being made from fiber-reinforced synthetic material. The tensile reinforcement elements have in an area outside the insulating body at least one anchoring section with geometric and/or material characteristics at least partially deviating from the central section, with the anchoring section being connected to the central section in a connection area. The connection area is arranged distanced from the insulating body. The central section is made from a cylindrical rod-shaped and/or tubular material and is provided on its radial exterior, at least in an area between the insulating body and the connection area, with an essentially smooth wall.

According to some embodiments of the invention, a tensegrity robot includes a plurality of compressive members; and a plurality of interconnecting tensile members connected to the plurality of compressive members to form a spatially defined structure without the plurality of compressive members forming direct load-transmitting connections with each other. The plurality of interconnecting tensile members forms a lattice, and the lattice comprises an elastic material.

Reticulated stereo module for the construction of buildings of the type that uses elements of reticulated stereo octahedral type and quadrangular panels for the construction of walls, floors and ceilings, which consists of 4 upper diagonal bars, 4 lower diagonal bars, 4 horizontal bars in the center in a crosswise direction, and 1 strut bar placed between the lower vertex and the central node and/or 1 tension bar placed between the upper vertex and the central node.

An element for thermal insulation between two building parts, particularly between a building (A) and a protruding exterior part (B), comprising an insulating body (2) to be arranged between the two building parts and reinforcement elements in the form of at least tensile elements (3), extending in an installed state of the element (10) essentially horizontally and perpendicular to an essentially horizontal extension of the insulating body through said body, and respectively projecting in the horizontal direction from the insulating body and here allowing a connection to one of the two building parts preferably made from concrete. Here the tensile reinforcement elements (3) are formed as multi-part composite elements such that at least in the proximity of the insulating body (2) they have a central rod section (3a) made from fiber-reinforced synthetic material and have a separate anchoring rod section (3b) in an area outside the insulating body (2) with geometric and/or material characteristics at least partially deviating from the central rod section (3a), with the anchoring rod section (3b) and the central rod section being arranged at least essentially aligned to each other and at least indirectly fixed to each other, and with the anchoring rod section (3b) cooperating with an interior anchoring element for fixing at the central rod section (3a), which interior anchoring element engages a radially interior area of the central rod section. The central rod section (3a) comprises on its radial exterior an annular radial support element and/or a radial support area (3ab) with fibers (3f) extending at least partially in the circumferential direction of the central rod section (3a), with the interior anchoring section (3v) and the radial support area (3ab) at least partially overlapping each other.

Tensegrity structures and methods of constructing tensegrity structures of three-dimensional tensegrity lattices formed from truncated octahedron elementary cells. Space-tiling translational symmetry is achieved by performing recursive reflection operations on the elementary cells. This topology exhibiting unprecedented static and dynamic mechanical properties.

The invention concerns a method for assembling a set of foldable/unfoldable tensegrity modules, each comprising a plurality of bars (10), a plurality of nodes (40) allowing the articulation of the bars (10), the method being characterised in that it comprises: juxtaposing the modules such that two adjacent modules comprise nodes positioned one over the other in a vertical plane; linking said nodes of the two adjacent modules by means of a tension cable and support beam link; positioning cover elements extending between successive modules.

A tensional space frame structure for use in decorating, covering, or enclosing spaces, utilizing a plurality of tension members organized to interact with vertical compression members to define a desired shape for the structure and transfer vertical loads to the perimeter of the structure. A large number of configurations for tensional space frame structures exhibit the potential to carry significant vertical loads and are suitable for long-span structures.

A structural frame for a building, comprising: adjacent first and second columns; at least one precast concrete floor slab having first and second corner indents located in two adjacent corners and a first elongated edge beam defined between the first and second corner indents, the first elongated edge beam being disposed between the first and second columns such that the first and second columns are received in the first and second corner indents and that the first elongated edge beam abuts the first and second columns; and a first tendon assembly extending between the first and second columns and adapted to be tensioned to compress the first elongated edge beam between the first and second columns, the first tendon assembly including at least one left cable and at least one right cable located symmetrically on either sides of a vertical center plane of the first and second columns.

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for effectively increasing the structural capacity of space frames. In various embodiments, a space frame may be post-tensioned with interior cables that attach to nodes and form unique load transfer paths, thereby redistributing the member stresses and generally creating uniformity amongst stress types. Further, in various embodiments, variable space frame geometry may be employed to match the structural capacity of the space frame with the structural loads on the same, thereby modifying a space frame to comprise one or more empty bays or stretch bays.

Structures are provided with rigid elements connected together by interconnecting elements in such a way to form a statically determined or statically over-determined structure. The structure includes at least one tension element formed of polymeric fibers having a stabilizing creep of at least 0.3% and at most 10% and a minimum creep rate lower than 110.sup.5% per second, wherein the said stabilizing creep and minimum creep are measured at a tension of 900 MPa and a temperature of 30 C. The structures may include, for example, framing structures (e.g., a space frame), suspended bodies, platforms, (e.g., a marine platform), or spoked wheels.