Manipulating mechanical waves with phononic materials

The Wave Propagation and Metamaterials Laboratory at University of Illinois seeks to uncover fundamental relationships between structure and mechanical wave propagation, focusing on phononicmaterials, where we design new structures to control wave propagation, and ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation (NDE), where we seek to identify unique wave responses in materials and structures to interrogate damage. Specifically, phononic materials can manipulate and control mechanical wave propagation through careful engineering of their meso- and micro-scale structural components. Features such as spatial periodicity of the material or geometry, resonant inclusions, and nonlinear features can lead to wave propagation and modal properties not found in natural materials. This presentation will discuss our group’s recent research in phononic materials, focusing on effects of “smart” tunable materials and nonlinear interfaces of wave propagation in phononic materials, using reduced order models, finite element simulations, and experiments. Results demonstrate wave propagation features such as tunable band gaps, energy transfer between modes, non-reciprocal wave propagation, and wavecontrolled precision actuation.