Flexural wave suppression by an acoustic metamaterial plate

A new acoustic metamaterial plate is presented for the purpose of suppressing flexural wave propagation. The metamaterial unit cell is made of a plate with a lateral local resonance (LLR) substructure which consists of a four-link mechanism, two lateral resonators and a vertical spring. The substructure presents negative Young’s modulus property in certain frequency range. We show theoretically and numerically that two large low-frequency band gaps are obtained with different formation mechanisms. The first band gap is due to the elastic connection with the foundation while the second is induced by the lateral resonances. Besides, four-link mechanisms can transform the flexural wave into the longitudinal vibration which stimulates the lateral resonators to vibrate and to generate inertial forces for absorbing the energy and thus preventing the wave propagation. Frequency response function shows that damping from the vertical spring has little influence on the band gaps, although the damping can smooth the variation of frequency response (see the dotted line in Figs. 10 and 11). Increasing the damping of the lateral resonators may broaden the second band gap but deactivate its effect. This study provides guidance for flexibly tailoring the band characteristics of the metamaterial plate in noise and vibration controls.