SUBWAVELENGTH WAVE PROPAGATION CONTROL BY USING ACTIVE ELASTIC METAMATERIALS

Elastic metamaterials have been extensively investigated due to their unique abilities on controlling propagation of subwavelength elastic waves. One of the most interesting properties is the generation of band gaps, in which elastic waves cannot propagate through. The growing technological development in electro/magneto-mechanical couplings of smart materials introduces controlling degree of freedom for passive elastic metamaterials. The new concept could allow fine control of the material physical behavior to induce tunable properties that cannot introduced by the passive approaches. In the study, active elastic metamaterials with shunted piezoelectric materials and electrorheological elastomers are suggested. The theoretical analysis and numerical validation of the active metamaterials with detailed microstructures will be presented for designing adaptive applications in band gap and extraordinary waveguide. Active elastic metamaterials could provide a new design methodology for adaptive wave filters, high signal-to-noise sensors and structural health monitoring.