Elastic wave manipulation by using a phase-controlling meta-layer

Abstract

In this work, a high pass meta-layer for elastic waves is proposed. An elastic phase-controlling meta-layer is theoretically realized using parallel and periodically arranged metamaterial sections based on the generalized Snell's law. The elastic meta-layer is composed of periodically repeated supercells, in which the frequency dependent elastic properties of the metamaterial are used to control a phase gradient at the interface between the meta-layer and conventional medium. It is analytically and numerically demonstrated that with a normal incident longitudinal wave, the wave propagation characteristics can be directly manipulated by the periodic length of the meta-layer element at the sub-wavelength scale. It is found that propagation of the incident wave through the interface is dependent on whether the working wavelength is longer or shorter than the periodic length of the meta-layer element. Specifically, a mode conversion of the P-wave to an SV-wave is investigated as the incident wave passes through the meta-layer region. Since the most common and damaging elastic waves in civil and mechanical industries are in the low frequency region, the work in this paper has great potential in the seismic shielding, engine vibration isolation, and other highly dynamic fields.