Transition waves in bistable systems generated by collision of moving breathers

Abstract

Mechanical metamaterials with multistability can support transition waves, propagation fronts that change the state of the material as they progress, and thus confer reconfigurability. The next step is to control where and when the transition wave is triggered. In this work, motivated by the existence of discrete breathers in Klein–Gordon lattices, we demonstrate that colliding moving breathers are able to trigger transition waves in bistable mechanical systems. We numerically generate counter-propagating breathers using drivers located at both ends of a finite bistable lattice, and when they collide, transition fronts can be formed. Our study reveals that fine-tuning the generated breathers allows us to control where the transition front forms in the system, and enables complex collision and transition wave triggering scenarios. The parameters of the system considered have been chosen according to experimental works on bistable lattice models under the presence of an asymmetric bistable on-site potential. Consequently, the method we propose for the remote generation of transition waves offers a new way of finely controlling the reconfiguration of mechanical systems with multiple equilibrium states.