PARAMETRIC INVESTIGATION OF BAND GAP EFFECTS IN CHIRAL MICROSTRUCTURES

Abstract

Vibration suppression has been thoroughly studied in the last few years. A number of methods has been proposed for this purpose. An evolving method lies in the search of band gap regions, that is, certain frequency ranges where vibrations are isolated. In the present investigation, a periodic unit cell of a chiral metamaterial has been created in order to study its dynamic behavior and how this affects the wave propagation into a lattice structure consisting of repeated chiral microstructures. Each cell represents a composite structure consisted by a soft matrix with hard connector wings and a circular core. The system is studied by plane stress finite elements. The design parameters of the structure that define the shape and the material are modified in order to study the changes at the appearance of the band gap areas. In addition, results of the dynamic response of the structure in the frequency domain will be presented in order to show the magnitude of the vibration reduction that can be achieved in a specific frequency range.