  An investigation on the additive manufacturing and the experimental testing
of 3D models of tensegrity prisms and columns is presented. An electron beam
melting facility (Arcam EBM S12) is employed to 3D print structures composed of
tensegrity prisms endowed with rigid bases and temporary supports, which are
made out of the titanium alloy Ti6Al4V. The temporary supports are removed
after the additive manufacturing phase, when Spectra cross-strings are added to
the 3D printed models, and a suitable state of internal prestress is applied to
the structure. The experimental part of the study shows that the examined
structures feature sitffening-type elastic response under large or moderately
large axial strains induced by compressive loading. Such a geometrically
nonlinear behavior confirms previous theoretical results available in the
literature, and paves the way to the use of tensegrity prisms and columns as
innovative mechanical metamaterials and smart devices.
