26 research outputs found
Nonlinear Waves in Disordered Diatomic Granular Chains
We investigate the propagation and scattering of highly nonlinear waves in
disordered granular chains composed of diatomic (two-mass) units of spheres
that interact via Hertzian contact. Using ideas from statistical mechanics, we
consider each diatomic unit to be a "spin", so that a granular chain can be
viewed as a spin chain composed of units that are each oriented in one of two
possible ways. Experiments and numerical simulations both reveal the existence
of two different mechanisms of wave propagation: In low-disorder chains, we
observe the propagation of a solitary pulse with exponentially decaying
amplitude. Beyond a critical level of disorder, the wave amplitude instead
decays as a power law, and the wave transmission becomes insensitive to the
level of disorder. We characterize the spatio-temporal structure of the wave in
both propagation regimes and propose a simple theoretical interpretation for
such a transition. Our investigation suggests that an elastic spin chain can be
used as a model system to investigate the role of heterogeneities in the
propagation of highly nonlinear waves.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures (some with multiple parts), to appear in Physical
Review E; summary of changes: new title, one new figure, additional
discussion of several points (including both background and results
Breathers In Periodic Granular Chains With Multiple Band Gaps
We consider the localized nonlinear breathing modes that emerge in
heterogeneous granular configurations of two materials with a periodicity of
three and four beads. We examine as characteristic examples chains with 1 steel
and 2 alumnium beads, as well as ones with 1 steel and three aluminum beads. We
analyze the higher order gaps that emerge in such settings and explore the
intrinsic localized modes that bifurcate from the edge of the upper bands. A
generic surprising feature of such states is that they appear to be more robust
than their counterparts bifurcating from the edges of the lower bands. Direct
numerical simulations, using driving of the system at suitable frequencies
through an actuator or taking advantage of the modulational instabilities of
extended band edge states in the system illustrate the spontaneous formation of
localized modes within the corresponding nearest gaps
Intrinsic Energy Localization through Discrete Gap Breathers in One-Dimensional Diatomic Granular Crystals
We present a systematic study of the existence and stability of discrete
breathers that are spatially localized in the bulk of a one-dimensional chain
of compressed elastic beads that interact via Hertzian contact. The chain is
diatomic, consisting of a periodic arrangement of heavy and light spherical
particles. We examine two families of discrete gap breathers: (1) an unstable
discrete gap breather that is centered on a heavy particle and characterized by
a symmetric spatial energy profile and (2) a potentially stable discrete gap
breather that is centered on a light particle and is characterized by an
asymmetric spatial energy profile. We investigate their existence, structure,
and stability throughout the band gap of the linear spectrum and classify them
into four regimes: a regime near the lower optical band edge of the linear
spectrum, a moderately discrete regime, a strongly discrete regime that lies
deep within the band gap of the linearized version of the system, and a regime
near the upper acoustic band edge. We contrast discrete breathers in anharmonic
FPU-type diatomic chains with those in diatomic granular crystals, which have a
tensionless interaction potential between adjacent particles, and highlight in
that the asymmetric nature of the latter interaction potential may lead to a
form of hybrid bulk-surface localized solutions
Periodic Travelling Waves in Dimer Granular Chains
We study bifurcations of periodic travelling waves in granular dimer chains
from the anti-continuum limit, when the mass ratio between the light and heavy
beads is zero. We show that every limiting periodic wave is uniquely continued
with respect to the mass ratio parameter and the periodic waves with the
wavelength larger than a certain critical value are spectrally stable.
Numerical computations are developed to study how this solution family is
continued to the limit of equal mass ratio between the beads, where periodic
travelling waves of granular monomer chains exist
Enhanced sensing and conversion of ultrasonic Rayleigh waves by elastic metasurfaces
Recent years have heralded the introduction of metasurfaces that advantageously combine the vision of sub-wavelength wave manipulation, with the design, fabrication and size advantages associated with surface excitation. An important topic within metasurfaces is the tailored rainbow trapping and selective spatial frequency separation of electromagnetic and acoustic waves using graded metasurfaces. This frequency dependent trapping and spatial frequency segregation has implications for energy concentrators and associated energy harvesting, sensing and wave filtering techniques. Different demonstrations of acoustic and electromagnetic rainbow devices have been performed, however not for deep elastic substrates that support both shear and compressional waves, together with surface Rayleigh waves; these allow not only for Rayleigh wave rainbow effects to exist but also for mode conversion from surface into shear waves. Here we demonstrate experimentally not only elastic Rayleigh wave rainbow trapping, by taking advantage of a stop-band for surface waves, but also selective mode conversion of surface Rayleigh waves to shear waves. These experiments performed at ultrasonic frequencies, in the range of 400â600âkHz, are complemented by time domain numerical simulations. The metasurfaces we design are not limited to guided ultrasonic waves and are a general phenomenon in elastic waves that can be translated across scales
Discrete breathers in and related models
We touch upon the wide topic of discrete breather formation with a special
emphasis on the the model. We start by introducing the model and
discussing some of the application areas/motivational aspects of exploring time
periodic, spatially localized structures, such as the discrete breathers. Our
main emphasis is on the existence, and especially on the stability features of
such solutions. We explore their spectral stability numerically, as well as in
special limits (such as the vicinity of the so-called anti-continuum limit of
vanishing coupling) analytically. We also provide and explore a simple, yet
powerful stability criterion involving the sign of the derivative of the energy
vs. frequency dependence of such solutions. We then turn our attention to
nonlinear stability, bringing forth the importance of a topological notion,
namely the Krein signature. Furthermore, we briefly touch upon linearly and
nonlinearly unstable dynamics of such states. Some special aspects/extensions
of such structures are only touched upon, including moving breathers and
dissipative variations of the model and some possibilities for future work are
highlighted