Tunable Two-Way Unidirectional Acoustic Diodes: Design and Simulation

Predeformation simultaneously changes the effective material stiffness as well as the geometric configuration and therefore may be utilized to tune wave propagation in soft phononic crystals (PCs). Moreover, the band gaps of soft PCs, as compared with those of the hard ones, are more sensitive to the external mechanical stimuli. A one-dimensional tunable soft acoustic diode based on soft functionally graded (FG) PCs is proposed. The two-way asymmetric propagation behavior is studied at the resonant frequency within the band gap. Numerical results show that the operating frequency (i.e., the resonant peak) of the soft graded acoustic diode can be altered by adjusting the mechanical biasing fields (including the longitudinal prestress and the lateral equibiaxial tension). The adjustment becomes significant when the strain-stiffening effect of the Gent hyperelastic material is properly harnessed. Furthermore, the prestress or equibiaxial tension can affect the two-way filtering of the soft FG PC in a separate and different manner. In addition, it is much easier to realize the tunable acoustic diode by exploiting soft FG materials with stronger compressibility. It is shown that the introduction of acoustic impedance is beneficial for predicting the tunable effects. The simulations and conclusions should provide a solid guidance for the design of tunable two-way unidirectional acoustic diodes made from soft hyperelastic materials.

Tuning Band Structures of Two-Dimensional Phononic Crystals With Biasing Fields

The control of band structures of 2D phononic crystals (PCs) composed of piezoelectric inclusions and elastic isotropic matrix with mechanical/electrical biasing fields is theoretically investigated. The theory for small fields superposed on biasing fields and the plane wave expansion (PWE) method is employed to compute the band structures of the PCs under different biasing fields, including the initial shear/normal stress and the initial electric field. We find that the initial shear stress breaks the symmetry of the material. In consequence, the two bands associated with the level repulsion effect are opened near the apparent crosspoint and form a local band gap. On the other hand, the normal initial stress and the biasing electric field change the effective stiffness and shift the positions of band gaps. The observed phenomena show that the biasing fields can be flexibly used to tune the PC devices.