Executive Summary : | The study aims to explore the use of metamaterials for wave mitigating purposes, specifically in the area of elastic wave bandgap. Metamaterials are constructed through the manipulation of single or multiple phases of constituent materials to achieve this phenomenon. Bragg's scattering, phononic crystal type metamaterials are fabricated, but they are restricted over the higher frequency range. Low frequency bandgaps can be achieved by inserting locally resonating periodic elements. Mathematical modeling and experimental findings have provided key understanding in unlocking the interplay of spatial arrangements of phases towards the formation of bandgap. However, attaining low frequency bandgap remains challenging, and the presence of permanent geometrical features of periodic units renders the bandgap fixed. The proposed project aims to design and develop metamaterials that offer alterable bandgap upon achieving stable reconfigurations. The main focus is to introduce multi-stable elements and local resonant periodic units, modulating stiffness and mass to harness elastic wave bandgap at various frequency levels. Predictive simulation-driven design strategies can be used for the development of reconfigurable metamaterials. The proposed scheme will use both computational and experimental approaches to explore the bandgap of the reconfigurable metamaterial. The structural reconfiguration of the metamaterial will be examined using a nonlinear finite element procedure, and the bandgap responses for various stable states will be evaluated. The research outcome will provide key knowledge on the formation of bandgap and explore shape morphing metamaterials in product form with variable bandgap. |