Tuning the band-gap of phononic crystals with an initial stress

The mechanism for the shift of the band-gap in two kinds of finite phononic crystals (PCs) (steel/epoxy and aluminum/epoxy) with different initial stresses is studied experimentally and theoretically. The experimental results and theoretical analysis simultaneously indicate that the initial stress will efficiently tune the location and width of the band-gap. The current work provides a basis for tuning the band-gap of phononic crystals in engineering applications.