Tendon Deployment and Tendon-Matrix Load Transfer in AMW-Reinforced AME Structures

Adaptive Matrix Worm (AMW) tendons in Adaptive Matrix Ecosystem (AME) structures are not defined only by how they are installed but by how they transfer load into the matrix. This paper expands earlier framings of AMW tendon deployment from a two-mode mechanism proposal (wrap-and-tighten end anchoring; harpoon-style discrete end anchoring) into a six-cell tendon-matrix coupling architecture organised on two axes: three attachment modes (end-anchored, point-attached, continuously Bio-Gripped) and two installation pathways (AMW retrofit, layered during AME construction). The six-cell matrix maps practicality and best-use per cell, identifies asymmetric occupation (continuous Bio-Grip is strongly preferred for layered installation but operationally challenging for AMW retrofit), and specifies the load-transfer mechanics per attachment mode using the prestressed-concrete bonded-versus-unbonded post-tensioning literature as a reference vocabulary that cannot be transferred directly to compliant water-filled cellular infrastructure but supplies useful design analogies. Mode A (wrap-and-tighten) and Mode B (harpoon) survive as AMW retrofit deployment mechanisms within the broader architecture. Mode C (Bio-Grip-assisted continuous bonding) is the new third mechanism. C2 (continuously Bio-Gripped, layered during AME construction) is the strongest case for new construction; A1 (end-anchored, AMW retrofit) and B1 (point-attached, AMW retrofit) retain strong cases for retrofit; A2, B2, and C1 occupy intermediate niches with specific applicability conditions. Bench Loop J, the Tendon Installation Cell, is the bench-scale instrument that exercises all three retrofit mechanisms with explicit a priori falsification criteria. The central claim is the architectural shift: tendon load transfer through compliant wet pressure-coupled interfaces is a different engineering design problem from tendon load transfer through rigid grout-concrete systems, and the design vocabulary the AMW arc adopts must respect that distinction while drawing on the civil-engineering literature for foundational principles.