In this paper, the dynamic behaviour of the tensegrity domes is explored. The consideration includes all cable structures called Geiger domes, i.e., two cases of configurations (with a closed and open upper section) and two variants of the nature of a dome (regular and modified) are taken into account. Particularly, the impact of the number of girders on the natural frequencies is analysed. A geometrically quasi-linear model is used, implemented in an original program written in the Mathematica environment. The results confirmthat the number of girders affects the number of infinitesimal mechanisms. However, the dynamic behaviour does not depend on the number of mechanisms. The most important is the nature of a dome and the type of load-bearing girder. Especially, the behaviour of Geiger domes with a closed upper section is specific. In this case, not only the frequencies corresponding to the infinitesimal mechanisms depend on the prestress. There are additional frequencies that depend on prestress. The number of them, and the sensitivity on the initial prestress changes, depends on the number of girders. Generally, for the same number of girders, the natural frequencies of regular domes are higher than for the modified ones.

The paper concerns steel domes with regard to the special structures named tensegrity. Tensegrities are characterized by the occurrence of self-stress states. Some of them are also characterized by the presence of infinitesimal mechanisms. The aim of this paper is to prove that only tensegrity domes with mechanisms are sensitive to the change of the level of initial prestress. Two tensegrity domes are considered. In addition, a standard single-layer dome is taken into account for comparison. The analysis is carried out in two stages. Firstly, the presence of the characteristic tensegrity features is examined (qualitative analysis). Next, the behavior under static external loads is studied (quantitative analysis). In particular, the influence of the initial prestress level on displacements, effort, and stiffness of the structure is analyzed. To evaluate this behavior, a geometrically non-linear model is used. The model is implemented in an original program written in the Mathematica environment. The analysis demonstrates that for a dome with mechanisms, the adjustment of pre-stressing forces influences the static properties. It has been found that the stiffness depends not only on the geometry and properties of the material but also on the initial prestress level and external load. In the case of the non-existence of mechanisms, structures are insensitive to the initial prestress level.