Robustness analysis and prediction of topological edge states in topological elastic waveguides

Abstract

Abstract Topological elastic waveguides constructed using acoustic topological insulators have garnered significant attention due to their exceptional wave modulation properties. While the existence of these edge states is guaranteed by topology, their robustness to defects is unclear. In this paper, topological edge states based on the acoustic pseudo-spin Hall effect are constructed, and the robustness of the topological edge states is quantitatively studied by analyzing displacement fields of phononic crystal (PnC) plates with various defects. Our robustness assessment considers nearly all possible defect scenarios, focusing on the influence of defects on two primary indicators: maximum displacement and its specific location on the PnC plate. The results indicate that the topological edge states formed by this structure are highly robust to defects with varying rotation angles, but exhibit limited robustness to defects of different dimensions or positions. Furthermore, a Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM) model is employed to predict the displacement along the wave transmission path in the presence of diverse lattice defects. The model emerges as an accurate predictor of displacement distribution changes, and thus can provide potential optimization strategies for topologically elastic waveguide-based energy harvesting systems and self-powered sensors.