Transition Waves in Multistable Mechanical Metamaterials under Periodic Excitation
Date:
Multistable mechanical metamaterials have recently provided unique platforms with wave guidance and wave steering capabilities. Arrays of symmetric/asymmetric bistable elements, such as elastically/plastically deformed arches, can be patterned to control the signal transmission and to passively achieve nonreciprocal wave propagation. In this work, sequential nonlinear transition wavefronts will be obtained by imposing an oscillatory transverse displacement to an element of a multistable metamaterial made of one-dimensional array of arches. Different excitation amplitude and frequencies will be considered and it will be showed how these features can be harnessed to control transition wavefronts propagation. In addition, the effect of multiple oscillatory inputs at different positions of the array will be investigated. The dynamics of the system will be theoretically studied by solving the continuum equations of motion with both direct time integration methods and numerical continuation techniques (i.e., pseudo-arclength continuation). Nonlinear wave interference, collision-like cases, and internal resonance phenomena will be characterized based on different oscillatory excitation parameters. This study will open avenues to the use of dynamic inputs to control sequential transition wavefronts in mechanical metamaterials