Tensegrity Metamaterials: Toward Failure-Resistant Engineering Systems through Delocalized Deformation.

Failure of materials and structures is inherently linked to localized mechanisms, from shear banding in metals, to crack propagation in ceramics and collapse of space-trusses after buckling of individual struts. In lightweight structures, localized deformation causes catastrophic failure, limiting their application to small strain regimes. To ensure robustness under real-world nonlinear loading scenarios, overdesigned linear-elastic constructions are adopted.