Revisiting effective acoustic propagation in labyrinthine metasurfaces

Abstract

We revisit the modelling of labyrinthine metasurfaces with space coiling design. To do so, we use homogenization theory which allows us to replace the actual structure by a slab filled with an effective, homogeneous and anisotropic, medium. The effective medium is highly anisotropic as the propagation is allowed in one direction only and its effective refractive index is obtained unambiguously thanks to the resolution of a static cell-problem. The result is compared to a classical, two-step, model which follows the intuitive idea that a coiled labyrinth and a slot being its uncoiled version behave the same. Beyond the approximation of such statement (the evanescent fields triggered at the turning regions of the labyrinth are neglected), we stress the difficulty in defining unambiguously the length of the uncoiled labyrinth.