In order to expand the internal space in tensegrity elements， realize small space occupation before deployment， and effectively utilize the internal space after deployment， the axial folding mode and folding characteristics of tensegrity elements are studied. First， according to the tensegrity theory， the node， connection， and component matrices are introduced. Then， the axial-folding significance of tensegrity elements and the problems encountered during axial folding are proposed， and two axial folding methods of tensegrity elements are introduced. Then， on the basis of the two folding methods， the bending bar tensegrity is proposed， and the solution method of the node coordinates of the bending bar tensegrity is given. Finally， the elastic deformation of the bending bar tensegrity element in the fully expanded state until the upper and lower horizontal planes coincide is analyzed， and the limit-bending angle of the node is obtained using the finite element software. When the four-bar tensegrity element with a height of 270 mm and radius of 200 mm is fully compressed， the relative deflection angle of the upper and lower bottom surfaces is 57°， and the compression ratio of the bar length is 13%. When bamboo material is used for a bar member， the angle of the bending joint connecting the two bar members is at most 90°. The straight to bending bar tensegrity effectively avoids the interference between the bar components， which increases the effective utilization of internal space and realizes axial folding.