International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205

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International Journal of Mechanical Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmecsci

Acoustic metamaterial beams based on multi-frequency

vibration absorbers
P. Frank Pai n, Hao Peng, Shuyi Jiang
Deptartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, United States

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Presented here is a new metamaterial beam based on multi-frequency vibration absorbers for broadband
Received 28 October 2013 vibration absorption. The proposed metamaterial beam consists of a uniform isotropic beam and small
Accepted 20 December 2013 two-mass spring-mass-damper subsystems at many locations along the beam to act as multi-frequency
Available online 2 January 2014
vibration absorbers. For an infinite metamaterial beam, governing equations of a unit cell are derived
Keywords: using the extended Hamilton principle. The existence of two stopbands is demonstrated using a model
Acoustic metamaterials based on averaging material properties over a cell length and a model based on finite element modeling
Multi-frequency vibration absorbers and the Bloch–Floquet theory for periodic structures. For a finite metamaterial beam, because these two
Multiple stopbands idealized models cannot be used for finite beams and/or elastic waves having short wavelengths, a finite-
Bandgap structures
element method is used for detailed modeling and analysis. The concepts of negative effective mass and
effective stiffness and how the spring-mass-damper subsystem creates two stopbands are explained in
detail. Numerical simulations reveal that the actual working mechanism of the proposed metamaterial
beam is based on the concept of conventional mechanical vibration absorbers. For an incoming wave
with a frequency in one of the two stopbands, the absorbers are excited to vibrate in their optical modes
to create shear forces to straighten the beam and stop the wave propagation. For an incoming wave with
a frequency outside of but between the two stopbands, it can be efficiently damped out by the damper
with the second mass of each absorber. Hence, the two stopbands are connected into a wide stopband.
Numerical examples validate the concept and show that the structure0 s boundary conditions do not have
significant influence on the absorption of high-frequency waves. However, for absorption of low-
frequency waves, the structure0 s boundary conditions and resonance frequencies and the location and
spatial distribution of absorbers need to be considered in design, and it is better to use heavier masses for
absorbers.
& 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction When an electromagnetic wave enters a material, its electric and

magnetic fields interact with the material0 s electrons and other
Metamaterials are a new class of semi-active composites proposed charges of atoms and molecules. This interaction alters the wave0 s
in 2001 by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) speed and wavelength, especially when local optical resonance
to exhibit exceptional material properties not observed in nature or in happens. Hence, it is possible to use this electromagnetic interaction
the constituent materials in order to develop new technologies [1–3]. to design a material with negative magnetic permeability (μ) and
The transcendental properties of metamaterials are assumed to arise electric permittivity (ε) and hence a negative refractive index (n) [4].
from their engineered constructs using artificially fabricated, extrinsic, Electromagnetic metamaterials are mainly designed by using the
low dimensional inhomogeneities. This concept motivates engineers effects of negative refractive indices, cloaking, and superlensing,
to dream and think out of the constraints imposed by the performance which are in turn caused by designed optical resonance. Possible
limitations of conventional materials. Metamaterials were first intro- applications include optical fibers with no transmission loss, very
duced for dealing with electromagnetic waves [1–7], and later thin optical lenses, compact radar lenses with relatively aberration
researchers began to look into metamaterials for dealing with free performance, electromagnetic absorbers, technologies for render-
acoustic waves [8–14]. ing objects invisible, optical microscopes capable of observing atoms,
subwavelength waveguides, photon tunneling, smaller antenna,
backward wave antennae, artificial magnetic device composed of
non-magnetic materials, high-performance permanent magnets,
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 1 573 884 1474; fax: þ 1 573 884 5090. photolithography and nanolithography to make higher density elec-
E-mail address: paip@missouri.edu (P.F. Pai). tronic circuits, faster fiber-optic communications, detailed biomedical

0020-7403/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2013.12.013
196 P.F. Pai et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205

imaging in real-time and in vivo, and visualizing proteins in intact including micro- and nano-manufacturing techniques that are still
cells using optical microscopes instead of a more complicated method under development.
like X-ray crystallography [1–3]. For example, current optical micro- Similar to optical (or electromagnetic) metamaterials, acoustic
scopes can only resolve objects down to the 400 nm limit of visible metamaterials enable development of many new technologies,
light, which is about one tenth the diameter of a red blood cell. In including acoustic absorbers using the stopband effect, acoustic
contrast, optical superlens having negative refractive indices can imaging below the diffraction limit using the superlensing effect,
image nano-scale structures with a resolution that is about one sixth super environmental acoustic absorbers, and subwavelength
the wavelength of visible light [15]. waveguides. However, key challenges are the theoretical develop-
Recently, the analogy between electromagnetic waves and ment of new metamaterials with different subsystems, physics-
acoustic waves stimulates development of metamaterials for deal- based modeling and understanding of working mechanisms,
ing with mechanical waves [8–14]. For electromagnetic waves and experimental verification of such mechanics-based, acoustic
having wavelengths much longer than the distance between metamaterials.
atoms, a material is well described by its locally averaged electro- Our previous studies [18–20] reveal that the actual working
magnetic properties ε (permittivity) and μ (permeability). Simi- mechanism of acoustic metamaterials is based on the concept of
larly, for elastic waves having wavelengths much longer than the conventional vibration absorbers. A conventional vibration absor-
distance between atoms, a material can be treated as a continuum ber consists of a lumped mass attached to the main mechanical
and is well described by its locally averaged mechanical properties system by a linear spring and hence has only one local resonance
E (Young0 s modulus) and ρ (mass density). The transcendental frequency. A conventional vibration absorber uses the 1:1 external
properties (e.g., μ o 0; n o 0 or μ⪢1) of an electromagnetic meta- resonance between the forcing frequency on the main system and
material are mainly caused by the optical resonance between an the local resonance frequency of the absorber to transfer the
electromagnetic wave and the material0 s manmade subunits. vibration energy to the absorber and stop the main system0 s
Similarly, acoustic metamaterials can be designed by building motion. The concept of conventional vibration absorbers can be
mechanical subunits into a natural material to resonate with extended to use the n:1 (n ¼2,3 or other larger integers) external
mechanical waves propagating in it. Similar to the interaction resonance between the forcing frequency on the main system and
between an electromagnetic wave and a material0 s charges, an the local resonance frequency of the absorber [21–24]. However,
elastic wave in a structure may resonate with the structure0 s the main system needs to be coupled with the absorber by
subunits and its speed and wavelength can be changed. This local nonlinear quadratic (or cubic or other higher-order) terms.
mechanical resonance can be used to design acoustic metamater- The unique feature of this nonlinear vibration absorber is that
ials with dynamics-dependent negative effective mass and stiff- the vibration energy transferred to the absorber will remain in the
ness [11–14,16], and this is essentially a concept for designing absorber (or be dissipated inside the absorber) without reentering
semi-active composite materials. the main system even after the excitation on the main system
Fortunately, some difficulties in designing optical metamater- stops. Hence, the transient vibration time will be short after a
ials do not exist in designing acoustic metamaterials. For example, transient excitation on the system. Unfortunately, a nonlinear
to achieve strong contrast in optical properties generally requires vibration absorber (especially when high-order nonlinear terms
the use of metals, which are accompanied by strong and undesir- are used) takes a transient time longer than that of the conven-
able dissipation of energy. On the other hand, a combination of tional 1:1 vibration absorber to develop the absorber0 s oscillation
strong contrast and low energy dissipation can be easily achieved amplitude to absorb the vibration energy. Hence, nonlinear
in acoustics and elastodynamics. Moreover, fabrication of acoustic absorbers may not even work for short-time transient excitations,
metamaterials can be much easier than that of their optical and 1:1 linear absorbers are worth more studies for further
counterparts. However, there are natural materials with negative improvement.
electric permittivity for direct design of electromagnetic metama- Previous research results [18–20] indicate that, for an acoustic
terials, but, unfortunately, there are no natural materials with metamaterial with single-mass absorbers, a stopband exists at the
negative mass density or Young0 s modulus. Hence, acoustic meta- high-frequency side of the local resonance frequency of each
materials can be realized only by manmade small-scale composite absorber. Our hypothesis here is that, if each vibration absorber
structures. has two lumped masses and hence two local resonance frequencies,
Acoustic metamaterials are designed by building subunits to there will be two stopbands. If the two local resonance frequencies
create the desired, unnatural material properties to manipulate are designed to be close to each other, the two stopbands can be
the dispersive properties of elastic waves, and they are often combined into a wide stopband. This paper is to perform theoretical
bandgap periodic structures [17]. Unfortunately, modeling of development and numerical validation for this new metamaterial
metamaterials is challenging because they are complicated built- for broadband absorption of transverse elastic waves in beams. The
up composite structures. In the literature, only few simple models specific objectives are: (1) to develop appropriate modeling and
for bar-like acoustic metamaterials were proposed, and they are all analysis methods and demonstrate absorption of elastic waves in a
based on spatial averaging of heterogeneous material properties beam with integrated spring-mass subsystems having two local
over each subunit and hence are valid only for waves of wave- resonance frequencies (e.g., Fig. 1), (2) to reveal the actual working
lengths much longer than the sizes of subunits [8–12,16]. If a mechanism of this metamaterial beam for absorption of low- and
metamaterial is to behave like a homogeneous material described
by its averaged material properties, its subunits must be much w( x, t )
smaller than the shortest wavelength of waves propagating in it.
The averaged dynamic material properties make a metamaterial
made of non-dispersive materials, behaves like a dispersive
z
one and cause the existence of a useful but mysterious phononic y x F ( x, t )
stopband that allows no waves within that frequency range
to propagate forward [16,17]. Most current designs of acoustic
metamaterials are based on the stopband effect [12–14]. To
manufacture such metamaterials with tiny subunits in order to
have stopbands, expensive manufacturing techniques are required, Fig. 1. A multi-frequency metamaterial beam for vibration absorption.
 P.F. Pai et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205 197

high-frequency elastic waves, and (3) to explain why manufacturing increases when m2 decreases. Moreover, Eq. (1c) shows that, when
such metamaterial beams does not require micro- or nano- Ω 4ω2 and m2 =ðΩ2 =ω22  1Þ 4 m1 , the effective mass m ~ becomes
manufacturing techniques. negative. Hence, the stopband is around but above ω2 .
If Ω o ω2 , because m ~ 1 40, F 0 =a1 ¼  m ~ 1 Ω2 o 0, and F 0 =a2 ¼ m ~1
Ω2 ðΩ2 =ω22  1Þ o 0, u1 ðtÞ and u2 ðtÞ are in phase and the vibration
2. Cause of stopband pattern is called an acoustic mode. If Ω 4 ω2 and m ~ 1 o0, because
F 0 =a1 ¼  m ~ 1 Ω2 40 and F 0 =a2 ¼ m ~ 1 Ω2 ðΩ2 =ω22  1Þ o0, u1 ðtÞ and
2.1. Negative effective mass u2 ðtÞ are 1801 out of phase and the vibration pattern is called an
optical mode. If Ω 4 ω2 and m ~ 1 4 0, because F 0 =a1 ¼  m ~ 1 Ω2 o0
The concept of negative dynamic mass [11–14,16,17] can be and F 0 =a2 ¼ m ~ 1 Ω2 ðΩ2 =ω22  1Þ 4 0, u1 ðtÞ and u2 ðtÞ are 1801 out of
clearly presented by considering the two-degree-of-freedom phase and it is also an optical mode. When Ω 4 ω2 and m ~ 1 o 0, the
(2-DOF) mass-in-mass system shown in Fig. 2a. The equations of downward pulling spring force on m1 is k2 ða1  a2 Þ ¼ F 0 ðm ~ 1  m1 Þ=
motion, frequency response functions H i1 ðΩÞ (i¼1, 2) between the m~ 1 4 F 0 , which is why the effective mass m ~ 1 becomes negative.
response ui ðtÞ and the input harmonic force FðtÞ, and the effective
mass m ~ 1 ðΩÞ are derived to be 2.2. Negative effective stiffness
" #( ) " #( )  
m1 0 u€ 1 k2  k2 u1 F The concept of negative effective stiffness can be clearly shown
þ ¼ ;
0 m2 u€ 2  k2 k2 u2 0 by considering the 2-DOF mass-in-spring system shown in Fig. 2b.
( ) ( ) The equations of motion, frequency response function H i1 ðΩÞ (i¼1, 2)
u1 a1
F  F 0 ejΩt ;  ejΩt ð1aÞ between the response ui ðtÞ and the input harmonic force FðtÞ, and
u2 a2
the effective stiffness k~ 1 ðΩÞ are derived to be
" #( ) " #( )  
0 0 u€ 1 k1 þ k2  k2 u1 F
a1 k2  m2 Ω2 þ ¼ ;
H 11  ¼ ; 0 m2 u€ 2  k2 k2 u2 0
F 0 ðk2  m1 Ω2 Þðk2  m2 Ω2 Þ  k2 ( ) ( )
2
u1 a1
a2 k2 F  F 0 ejΩt ;  ejΩt ð2aÞ
H 21  ¼ ð1bÞ u2 a2
F 0 ðk2  m1 Ω2 Þðk2  m2 Ω2 Þ  k2
2

sffiffiffiffiffiffiffi a1 k2  m2 Ω2 1
F F0 m2 k2 H 11  ¼ ¼ ;
m~1 ¼ ¼ m1 þ ; ω2  ð1cÞ F 0 ðk1 þ k2 Þðk2  m2 Ω2 Þ  k2 k~ 1
u€ 1  Ω2 a1 1  Ω2 =ω22 m2 2
a2 k2
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi H21  ¼ ð2bÞ
where j   1, u_ 1  du1 =dt, t is time, Ω is the excitation fre- F 0 ðk1 þk2 Þðk2  m2 Ω2 Þ  k2
2
quency, and ω2 is the local resonance frequency of the spring-mass
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
vibration absorber (consisting of m2 and k2 ) if u1 ¼ 0. The effective F F0 k2 k2
mass m ~ 1 is defined by treating this 2-DOF system as a 1-DOF k~ 1  ¼ ¼ k1 þ ; ω2  ð2cÞ
u1 a1 1  ω22 =Ω2 m2
system by assuming the internal absorber being unknown to the
observer. If Ω ¼ ω2 , Eqs. (1a)–(1c) show that jmj-1,~ H 11 ¼ u1 ¼ 0, The effective stiffness k~ 1 is defined by treating this 2-DOF
F 0 ¼ k2 a2 , and FðtÞ ¼ k2 u2 ðtÞ ¼ m2 u€ 2 ðtÞ. In other words, the system as a 1-DOF system by assuming the internal absorber being
external force is canceled out by the inertia force  m2 u€ 2 and unknown to the observer. If Ω ¼ ω2 , Eqs. (2a)–(2c) show that
hence u1 ðtÞ ¼ 0, which is the key concept of conventional mechan- jk~ 1 j-1, H 11 ¼ u1 ¼ 0, F 0 ¼ k2 a2 , and FðtÞ ¼ k2 u2 ðtÞ ¼ m2 u€ 2 ðtÞ.
ical vibration absorbers. This also reveals that, for a specific In other words, the external force is canceled out by the inertia
harmonic excitation with Ω ¼ ω2 , a2 ð ¼  F 0 =k2 ¼  F 0 =ðm2 Ω2 ÞÞ force  m2 u€ 2 through the spring k2 and hence u1 ðtÞ ¼ 0. This also

Fig. 2. Two-DOF systems: (a) mass-in-mass, and (b) mass-in-spring.

198 P.F. Pai et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205

Fig. 3. Wave propagation in a metamaterial bar.

reveals that, for a specific harmonic excitation with Ω ¼ ω2 ,

a2 ð ¼  F 0 =k2 ¼ F 0 =ðm2 Ω2 ÞÞ increases when m2 decreases. More-
over, Eq. (2c) shows that, when Ω oω2 and k2 ðω22 =Ω2  1Þ 4 k1 , the
effective stiffness k~ 1 becomes negative and hence the stopband is
around but below ω2 .
If Ωoω2 and k~ 1 4 0, because F 0 =a1 ¼ k~ 1 4 0 and F 0 =a2 ¼ k~ 1
ð1  Ω2 =ω22 Þ 4 0, motions of u1 ðtÞ and u2 ðtÞ are in phase and it is an
acoustic mode. If Ω oω2 and k~ 1 o 0, because F 0 =a1 ¼ k~ 1 o 0 and Fig. 4. A three-DOF vibration absorber.
F 0 =a2 ¼ k~ 1 ð1  Ω2 =ω22 Þ o 0, motions of u1 ðtÞ and u2 ðtÞ are in phase
and it is also an acoustic mode. If Ωo ω2, because k~ 1 4 0,
F 0 =a1 ¼ k~ 1 4 0, and F 0 =a2 ¼ k~ 1 ð1  Ω2 =ω22 Þ o 0, motions of u1 ðtÞ undamped natural frequencies ω1 and ω2 are
and u2 ðtÞ are 1801 out of phase and it is an optical mode. When vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u
Ωoω2 and k~ 1 o 0, the downward pulling spring force against F(t) u
tα þ αβ þ β 7 ðα þ αβ þ βÞ2 4αβ
is k2 ða1  a2 Þ ¼ F 0 ðk~ 1  k1 Þ=k~ 1 4 F 0 , which explains why the effec- ω 1 ; ω2 ¼ ω2 ;
2α
tive stiffness k~ 1 is negative. sffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
m3 k3 k2 k1
α ; β  ; ω2  ; ω1  ð4Þ
2.3. Discussions m2 k2 m2 m1

Fig. 2a and Eq. (1c) show that the translational vibration For example, if α ¼ β ¼ 0:05; ω1 ¼ 0:894ω2 with u3 =u2 ¼ 3:112
absorber can work efficiently, in an optical mode, against an and ω2 ¼ 1:118ω2 with u3 =u2 ¼  1:361, as shown in Fig. 5. For
external force acting on a mass with Ω 4 ω2 . On the other hand, higher values of α and β, the values of ω1 and ω2 will be further
Fig. 2b and Eq. (2c) show that the translational vibration absorber separated and the two stopbands around these two frequencies
can work efficiently, in an acoustic mode, against an external force will be difficult to be combined into a wide stopband. Results show
acting on a spring with Ω 4ω2 . that ω1 þ ω2  2ω2 if m3 =m2 ¼ k3 =k2 . This makes it easy for design
Fig. 3 shows that a longitudinal bar with integrated spring- of such multi-frequency absorbers.
mass subsystems to absorb longitudinal elastic waves is based on If m1 ¼ 10 kg; m2 ¼ 0:1m1 ; p ωffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 ¼ ffiω2 ¼ 10 Hz; α ¼ β ¼ 0; 0:025;
the negative mass effect (see Fig. 2a), and a negative effective mass 0:05; and 0:1; and ςi ð  0:5ci = mi ki Þ with ς1 ¼ 0:02; ς2 ¼ 0:04;
density results in the existence of a stopband when the incoming and ς3 ¼ 0:04 are used, Fig. 6a and b shows the frequency response
wave frequency functions H i1 ðΩÞ. Note that the minimum points of H 11 ðΩÞ happen
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi is slightly higher than the local resonance fre-
quency ki =mi [12,18]. Although a beam has both mass and spring at Ω ¼ ω1 and ω2 . If c2 ¼ c3 ¼ 0; the two minimum points of H 11 ðΩÞ
effects and transverse elastic waves in beams are dispersive (i.e., would be zero. Fig. 6a and b also shows that, when α and β
waves of different wavelengths propagate at different speeds), the increase (i.e., a heavier m3 ), the two peaks away from ω2 move
negative mass effect is still the major cause of the stopband [19]. farther away and become smaller. In other words, m3 can control
Moreover, because transverse waves propagate in a beam through these peak locations and magnitudes. Unfortunately, the peak
internal transverse shear forces and bending moments, both around ω2 increases when α and β increase. Fig. 6c shows that,
translational and rotational vibration absorbers can be used to when β increases (i.e., a stronger k3 ), the left peak increases, the
prevent waves from propagating forward. However, research right peak decreases, and the corresponding frequencies of the
results show that translational vibration absorbers are far more three peaks increase, especially the middle peak. Most seriously,
efficient than rotational vibration absorbers [19]. the middle peak increases when β is different from α. Hence, it is
better to use α ¼ β in design.
It is well known that a dynamical system with low damping
3. Multi-frequency vibration absorber quickly responds to a transient excitation but slowly damps out
the system0 s vibration after the excitation stops. However, for the
To show the use of multi-frequency vibration absorbers to system shown in Fig. 4, a large c2 can reduce the left and right
design broadband metamaterials, we consider the 3-DOF system peaks of jH 11 j in Fig. 6a, but it cannot reduce the middle peak and
shown in Fig. 4. The vibration absorber uses two lumped masses. it increases the two lowest values of jH 11 j around ω1 and ω2 .
The equations of motion are given by Hence, a small value for c2 is recommended. Moreover, to reduce
2 38 9 2 38 9 the middle peak and to damp out the system0 s vibration after the
m1 0 0 > € c1 þc2  c2 0 _
< u1 >
= < u1 >
> = excitation stops, one can use a large value for c3 , as shown in
6 0 m 0 7 6 c2 þ c3  c3 7
4 2 5 u€ 2 þ 4  c2 5 u_ 2 Fig. 6d. Hence, one can use a small c2 and a large c3 to increase the
> > > >
0 0 m3 : u€ 3 ; 0  c3 c3 : u_ 3 ; response speed, decrease the vibration amplitude of u1 , and
2 38 9 8 9
k1 þ k2  k2 0 < u1 >
> = > <F >
= quickly damp out the system0 s free transient vibration. All these
6 k k2 þ k3 k3 7 characteristics are important for designing such multi-frequency
þ4 2 5 u2 ¼ 0 ð3Þ
> > > >
0  k3 k3 : u3 ; : 0 ; vibration absorbers.
Vibration isolators are different from vibration absorbers. For a
The working principle of the vibration absorber is to make vibration absorber, the loading point and the response point
u1 ¼ 0 by adjusting one of the two local natural frequencies of main concern are on the same object (i.e., m1 in Fig. 4). For a
equal to the excitation frequency Ω. With u1 ¼ 0, the two local vibration isolator, the loading point and the response point of
 P.F. Pai et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205 199

Fig. 5. Local resonance frequencies and mode shapes with α ¼0.05: (a) frequencies, and (b) mode shapes.

Fig. 6. Frequency response functions Hi1 with m2/m1 ¼ 0.1: (a and b) α¼ β ¼0, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1, (c) α¼ 0.05 with β ¼0.04, 0.05 and 0.06, and (d) α ¼β ¼ 0.05 with ς3 ¼ 0.04
and 0.12.

main concern are on different objects. A vibration isolator works Fig. 7a that
by using the out-of-phase inertia force of the loaded object to Z L=2
reduce the load transferred to the response point, δT ¼  €
ρAwδwdx
pffiffiffiand it works  L=2
best if the system0 s damping is small and Ω 4 2ω (ω is the Z L=2
system0 s natural frequency) [25]. δΠ ¼ EIw00 δw00 dx
 L=2
Z L=2
4. Acoustic metamaterial beam ¼ EIwiv δwdx þ EIðw″1 δθ 1 w″ 1 δθ 1  w‴1 δw1
 L=2

4.1. Governing equations þ w‴0 þ δw0  w‴0  δw0 þ w‴ 1 δw 1 ÞδW nc ¼ EIw″1 δθ1
 EIw‴1 δw1  EIw″ 1 δθ  1 þ EIw‴
 1 δw 1 þ k2 ðu2  w0 Þδw0 ð5aÞ
As shown in Fig. 1, the goal is to design a metamaterial beam Z L=2
that can stop propagation of transverse elastic waves (mainly € þ EIwiv Þδwdx þ EIðw‴0 þ  w‴0  Þδw0  k2 ðu2  w0 Þδw0
0¼ ðρAw
asymmetric Lamb waves) based on the use of the multi-frequency  L=2
vibration absorber shown in Fig. 4. Because rotational vibration Z L=2

absorbers were shown to be inefficient [19], we consider only ¼ € þ EIwiv þ ½EIðw‴0 þ  w‴0  Þ þ k2 ðw0  u2 ÞδðxÞÞδwdx
ðρAw
 L=2
translational vibration absorbers in the free-body diagram of the
ð5bÞ
unit cell model shown in Fig. 7a. The governing equation for a unit
0
cell of an infinite metamaterial beam can be derived using where A, I, Eand ρ are the beam s cross-sectional area, area moment,
RL
the extended Hamilton principle 0 ðδT  δΠ þ δW nc Þdt ¼ 0, where Young0 s modulus and mass density, respectively. Moreover, L is the
T is the kinetic energy, Π the elastic energy, and W nc the cell length, and mi and ki are the masses and spring constants of
non-conservative work due to external loads. It follows from the vibration absorber. Moreover, δðxÞ is the Dirac delta function,
200 P.F. Pai et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205

which indicates that the beam segment is treated as a lumped mass

m and a spring k. However, m and kchange with the wavenumber β.
Substituting Eq. (7) into Eqs. (6b), (6c) and(8a) and setting the
determinant of the coefficients of p1 ; p2 and p3 to zero yields the
dispersion equation that can be used to determine positive value
(s) of β corresponding to each specific value of Ω, i.e.,
 
 k þ k2  mΩ2  k2 0 
 
 
 k2 k2 þ k3 m2 Ω2
 k3 ¼0 ð8bÞ
 
 0  k3 k3  m3 Ω 2

For a specific Ω, if no positive real values exist for β, it means

the Ω value is in a stopband. If β ¼ jα and α 4 0, wðx; tÞ ¼
p1 e  αx e  jΩt indicates an evanescent (nonpropagating) wave and
a stopband exists. For a specific β, a complex value for Ω indicates a
mode that either decays or diverges exponentially with time and
does not need to be considered. Note that the integration shown in
Eq. (8a) transforms the system consisting of a continuum and two
discrete DOFs (i.e., Eqs. (6a)–(6c)) into a system of 3 DOFs. Because
Eq. (7) assumes that wðx; tÞ is a continuous function of x and it
cannot account for the discontinuity of EIw‴ at x¼0, Eq. (8a) is
an averaged representation of the continuous system shown in
Fig. 7a.
The effective mass density ρ~ and effective Young0 s modulus E~
can be defined by using Eqs. (7) and (8a) and ignoring (i.e., not
knowing the existence of) the vibration absorber as
Fig. 7. Modeling of an infinite metamaterial beam: (a) free-body diagram of a unit R L=2
cell, and (b) finite element modeling. EIw‴ ‴
 1  EIw1 EIβ4 €
 L=2 ρAwdx ρAΩ2
ρ~  R L=2 ¼ ~
; E ¼ ð9Þ
2 Iw ‴
€
 L=2 Awdx
AΩ Iw‴  1 1 Iβ4
w0  ∂w=∂x  θ and w _  ∂w=∂t. Furthermore, EIw‴0  a EIw‴0 þ
because the vibration absorber creates a concentrated shear force If β ¼ jα and α 40, wðx; tÞ ¼ p1 e  αx e  jΩt indicates an evanescent
at x ¼ 0: Setting the coefficients of δw in Eq. (5b) to zero and using (nonpropagating) wave and a stopband exists. However, Eq. (9)
Newton0 s second law on the free-body diagrams of m2 and m3 yields shows that both ρ~ and E~ are always positive. Hence, it is
the following governing equations: inappropriate to use the sign of ρ~ or E~ to determine the existence
€ þ EIwiv þ ½EIðw‴0 þ w‴0  Þ þ k2 ðw0  u2 ÞδðxÞ ¼ 0 of stopbands for metamaterial beams. Instead of creating negative
ρAw ð6aÞ
effective mass density or Young0 s modulus and hence stopbands,
m2 u€ 2 þ ðk2 þ k3 Þu2  k3 u3 ¼ k2 w0 ð6bÞ the actual working mechanism of metamaterial beams is how
conventional vibration absorbers work against external loads, as
m3 u€ 3  k3 u2 þ k3 u3 ¼ 0 ð6cÞ shown next.

4.3. Actual working mechanism

4.2. Homogenized material properties and dispersion equation
In Fig. 7a, if the internal shear force on the beam at x ¼ 0  is
Dynamic characteristics of an infinite periodic structure can be V 0  ðtÞ ¼ EIw‴ð0  ; tÞ ¼ F 0 cos Ωt and w0 ¼ a0 cos Ωt; we obtain
derived by considering only a representative cell and making use from Eqs. (6b) and (6c) the steady-state solution
of the Bloch–Floquet theory [26]. Accordingly, an elastic wave
propagating through the unit cell shown in Fig. 7a can be assumed ω22 ðω22  Ω2 Þ
u2 ¼ w0 ð10aÞ
to have ðΩ  ω21 ÞðΩ2  ω22 Þ
2

wðx; tÞ ¼ p1 ejðβx  ΩtÞ ¼ w0 ejβx ; u2 ðtÞ ¼ p2 e  jΩt ; u3 ðtÞ ¼ p3 e  jΩt ð7Þ where ω2 ; ω1 and ω2 are defined in Eq. (4). Hence, the internal
shear force V 0 þ ðtÞ on the beam at x ¼ 0 þ should be
where β, λð ¼ 2π=βÞ and Ω are the wavenumber, wavelength and
vibration frequency, respectively. The phase velocity of an elastic V 0 þ ðtÞ  EIw‴ð0 þ ; tÞ ¼ EIw‴ð0  ; tÞ  k2 ðu2  w0 Þ
!
wave is cp ¼ λΩ=ð2πÞ ¼ Ω=β. The modal vibration frequency of a ω22 ðω22  Ω2 Þ
standing wave is often represented by ω in structural dynamics, ¼ ðF 0  F~ 0 Þ cos Ωt; F~ 0  1 k2 a0
ðΩ2  ω21 ÞðΩ2  ω22 Þ
and the corresponding wave has a zero group velocity (i.e.,
cg ¼ dΩ=dβ ¼ 0). Hence, we use Ω to represent the vibration ð10bÞ
frequency of an elastic wave having an arbitrary wavelength If Ω ¼ ω1þ
(i.e., Ω 4ω1 but close to ω1 ) or Ω ¼ ω2þ ,
Eq. (10a)
because it often corresponds to a traveling wave caused by an shows that u2 and w0 are 1801 out of phase (i.e., in the optical
external excitation at a frequency Ω. If the beam is to be treated as mode) and Eq. (10b) shows that the absorber changes the internal
a homogenized uniform beam, one can integrate Eq. (6a) over the shear force from F 0 to F 0  F~ 0 . This is the actual working mechan-
cell length L and use Eq. (7) to obtain ism of translational vibration absorbers.
Z L=2 Phononic crystals are made of periodic distributions of inc
€ þ EIw‴1  EIw‴  1 þ k2 ðw0  u2 Þ ¼ 0 3 mw
ρAwdx € 0 þ kw0 lusions (scatterers) embedded in a matrix in order to control the
 L=2
dispersion of waves through the Bragg scattering, which is the
þ k2 ðw0  u2 Þ ¼ 0 scattering of waves by a periodic arrangement of scatterers with
2ρA sin ðβL=2Þ dimensions and periods comparable to the wavelength of the
m ; k  2EIβ3 sin ðβL=2Þ ð8aÞ
β incoming wave [13]. Although acoustic metamaterials are often
 P.F. Pai et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205 201

designed as periodic structures, they are different from phononic diverges exponentially and does not needpto be considered.
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi The
crystals because their properties rely on dynamic local resonance, main interest is on the ones close to ω2  k2 =m2 .
instead of static periodicity.

5. Numerical validations
4.4. Finite element modeling
As shown in Section 4.3, the actual working mechanism of
The continuity assumed for wðx; tÞ in Eq. (7) and the averaging
metamaterial beams is how mechanical vibration absorbers work.
shown in Eq. (8a) cannot exactly account for the discontinuity
To demonstrate that we consider infinite and finite metamaterial
EIw‴0  a EIw‴0 þ . In other words, this averaging approach is not
beams with different multi-frequency vibration absorbers.
really appropriate for such a highly inhomogeneous built-up
structure. Such a homogenized model can be used only for waves
having λ⪢L such that the wave profile between two adjacent 5.1. Existence of stopband
absorbers can be approximated by a smooth function like that
shown in Eq. (7). For metamaterial beams having far separated To show the existence of stopbands we consider an infinite
discrete absorbers or waves of short wavelength, this model is metamaterial beam with each unit cell (see Fig. 7a) having
invalid because it does not account for the discontinuity of w‴ at L ¼ 10 mm; b ¼ 5 mm; h ¼ 3 mm; A ¼ bh; E ¼ 72:4 GPa;
x ¼0. On the other hand, the displacement-based finite element ν ¼ 0:33; ρ ¼ 2780 kg=m3
modeling shown next can easily account for such discontinuities
m1  ρAL; m2 ¼ 0:1m1 ; m3 ¼ 0:05m2 ½ðm2 þ m3 Þ=m1 ¼ 10:5%
and will be used for later detailed simulations.
k2 ¼ ω22 m2 ; k3 ¼ ω22 m3 ; ω2 ¼ 2500 Hz; c2 ¼ c3 ¼ 0
As shown in Fig. 7b, we discretize the beam segment of each
cell into two beam elements. Because shear deformation and ð13Þ
rotary inertias are significantly influential on propagation of elastic
Fig. 8a shows the dispersion curves obtained from Eqs. (11b)
waves in beams [27], we adopt Timoshenko0 s beam theory and
and (12) with m3 ¼ 0 and m2 =m1 ¼ 0:1; 0:3 and 0:5. The thick
include rotary inertias in the finite element modeling. Accordingly,
dashed line is obtained from Eq. (8b) with m2 =m1 ¼ 0:1. Results
the variations of kinetic and elastic energies in Eq. (5a) are
from Eq. (11b) account for the discontinuity EIw‴ 0  a EIw‴0 þ and
modified for a beam element without the vibration absorber as
shear flexibility and rotary inertias, but those from Eq. (8b) do not.
Z L=2
Shear flexibility and rotary inertias actually do not cause signifi-
δT ¼  €
½ρAwδw € 0  γ€ Þðδw0  δγÞdx
þ ρIðw
0
cant differences for this case because it is a thin beam. Fig. 8a
Z L=2 shows that, for a single-frequency (or single-mass) vibration
δΠ ¼ ½EIðw″  γ 0 Þδðw″ γ 0 Þ þ ks GAγδγdx ð11aÞ absorber, the stopband increases with the absorber0 s mass m2 .
0
With m2 =m1 ¼ 0:1; the stopband is 1:0 o Ω=ω2 o 1:065. The black
where G is the shear modulus, γ is the shear rotation angle, and solid line in Fig. 8a represents the dispersion curve without
w0  γ is the total cross-sectional rotation. Because only uniform absorbers. Because the group velocity dΩ=dβ is not constant, it is
isotropic beams with rectangular cross sections will be considered, dispersive.
the shear correction factor ks is set to be 5/6 [28]. The weak form The dispersion curves shown in Fig. 8b with m2 =m1 ¼ 0:1 and
shown in Eq. (11a) can be discretized by using linear shape m3 ¼ 0:05m2 ¼ 0:005m1 show that the addition of m3 splits the
functions for γ and Hermite cubic polynomials for w. Hence, there stopband into two stopbands with each one being smaller than the
are three degrees of freedomw; w0 ð  θÞ and γ at each of the four one without m3 . Fig. 8b shows that stopbands are 0:894 oΩ=ω2
nodes in Fig. 7b, and two degrees of freedom u2 and u3 for each of o 0:930 and 1:118 o Ω=ω2 o 1:149. When m2 =m1 increases, the
the vibration absorbers at nodes 1 and 3. This metamaterial beam two stopbands are further separated and the bandwidth of each
element is implemented into our in-house finite-element code stopband increases. For an excitation frequency outside of but
GESA (Geometrically Exact Structural Analysis) [28].
To determine dynamic characteristics of a periodic structure
having an infinite length (i.e., without influences of boundary
conditions), only the four nodes marked in Fig. 7b need to be
modeled according to the Bloch–Floquet theory [26]. Hence, there
are 16 DOFs in total in the following governing equations from
conventional finite element modeling using the extended Hamil-
ton principle:
€ þ ½Kfqg ¼ f0g;
½Mfqg fqg ¼ fw1 ; θ1 ; γ 1 ; :::; w4 ; θ4 ; γ 4 ; u21 ; u23 ; u31 ; u33 gT
ð11bÞ
where the dampers in Fig. 7b are not considered during modal
analysis. According to the Bloch–Floquet theory, we have

fw1 ; θ1 ; γ 1 ; u21 ; u31 g ¼ fw3 ; θ3 ; γ 3 ; u23 ; u33 ge  jβL ;

fw4 ; θ4 ; γ 4 g ¼ fw2 ; θ2 ; γ 2 gejβL ð12Þ

Substituting Eq. (12) into Eq. (11b) reduces the mass and stiffness
matrices into 8  8 matrices ½M^ and ½K.
^ For each wavenumber β,
^ Ω2 ½Mj
j½K ^ ¼ 0 yields eight values for Ω2 . Because the ½M
^ and ½K
^
from Eq. (11b) are 2π periodic and remain the same if expð 7 jβLÞ is
replaced with expð 8 jβLÞ, only 0 o βL r π needs to be examined in
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
order to obtain all frequencies. However, it follows from Eq. (7) Fig. 8. Dispersion curves with ω2 ¼ k2 =m2 ¼ 2500 Hz: (a) m2/m1 ¼ 0.1, 0.3 and
that a complex value for Ω indicates a mode that either decays or 0.5 and m3 ¼ 0, and (b) m2/m1 ¼0.1 and m3/m2 ¼ k3/k2 ¼ 0.05.
202 P.F. Pai et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205

between the two stopbands (i.e., 0:930 o Ω=ω2 o 1:118), the wave
can propagate but its amplitude can be significantly reduced by a
large value of c3 , as discussed before and shown later.
Note that each vertical broken line tangent to the dispersion
curves in Fig. 8b indicates a natural frequency of a standing
vibration mode because the corresponding group velocity
cg  dΩ=dβ ¼ 0 [27]. On the other hand, dΩ=dβ a 0 corresponds
to a traveling wave. The most important phenomenon revealed by
Fig. 8b is that an elastic wave with a long wavelength (i.e., a low
L=λ value) can propagate at three different frequencies (or speeds),
and two stopbands exist between the three branches of dispersion
curves. The low-frequency motion is in an acoustic mode, the high-
frequency motion is in an optical mode, and the middle-frequency
one is a mixed mode, as shown later.

5.2. Efficiency of multi-frequency absorbers

To show the efficiency of the proposed multi-frequency vibra-

Fig. 9. Frequency response functions H101,2 with m2/m1 ¼ 0.1 and m3/m2 ¼ k3/
tion absorber, we consider a finite, simply supported metamaterial
k2 ¼0.05: (a) ω2 ¼ 2500 Hz, and (b) ω2 ¼ 1000 Hz, where k2, k3-1 (dashed line),
beam consisting of 100 cells (see Fig. 7b) and having ς2 ¼ ς3 ¼ 0.0001 (blue line), and ς2 ¼ 0.01 and ς3 ¼ 0.1 (red line). (For interpretation of
the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web
L~ ¼ 100 cm; L ¼ L=100;
~ b ¼ 5 mm; h ¼ 3 mm; A ¼ bh; version of this article.)
E ¼ 72:4 GPa; ν ¼ 0:33; ρ ¼ 2780 kg=m3 ; m1  ρAL; m2 ¼ 0:1m1 ;
m3 ¼ 0:05m2 ; k2 ¼ ω22 m2 ; k3 ¼ ω22 m3 ; ω2 ¼ 2500 Hz 1:0; 1:12 and 1:3. Fig. 10a shows that Ωo 0:894ω2 corresponds to
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ς2 ¼ 0:01; ς3 ¼ 0:1; c2 ¼ 2ς2 m2 k2 ; c3 ¼ 2ς3 m3 k3 an acoustic mode (i.e, w and u2 are in phase) with a long
F 0 ¼ 100 N; Ω ¼ rω2 at x ¼ 5 mm ð14Þ wavelength, and Fig. 10e shows that Ω 41:149ω2 corresponds to
an optical mode (i.e, w and u2 are out of phase) with a short
where L~ denotes the beam length, L is the cell length, and F 0 is the wavelength. Fig. 10b shows that, if the incoming wave0 s frequency
amplitude of a harmonic excitation force. The beam is divided into Ω is within the first stopband, the first few absorbers0 m2 and m3
200 finite beam elements. Without absorbers, the first 5 natural work together (i.e., in phase) to suppress the incoming wave
frequencies are 6.9421, 27.767, 62.471, 111.05 and 173.49 Hz. (The through their inertia forces. Fig. 10d shows that, if the incoming
shear flexibility slightly reduces the 3rd, 4th and 5th frequencies wave0 s frequency Ω is within the second stopband, the first few
from 62.478, 111.07 and 173.54 Hz, but significant reductions absorbers0 m2 works to suppress the incoming wave through its
happen to higher modes.) The mode shapes are essentially inertia force. Because m3 works against m2 (i.e., out of phase), this
~ for the ith mode. Adding the absorbers increases
ai sin ðiπx=LÞ mode is less efficient than the one shown in Fig. 10b. The vibration
the total mass of the beam by only 10.5% and decreases the first mode in Fig. 10b is a mixed mode close to an acoustic mode, and
five frequencies to 6.604, 26.415, 59.429, 105.64 and 165.42 Hz. the one in Fig. 10d is a mixed mode close to an optical mode.
Here we add two discrete viscous dampers c2 and c3 to each To show that Fig. 10c is due to a large c3 we obtain Fig. 11 by
absorber, as shown in Fig. 7b. The material damping of the beam using ς3 ¼ 0:01: Figs. 10c and 11c reveal that the absorption of
is accounted for by using modal damping ratios [0.02, 0.02  Δς, incoming wave with a frequency outside of but between the two
0.02  2Δς,…, 0.002] with Δς ¼ ð0:02  0:002Þ=300 for the 301 stopbands is attributed to the high damping value for c3 . More-
modes. The corresponding finite element model and frequency over, Figs. 10b, 11b, 10d and 11d show that, with a smaller c3 , the
response function matrix [H] are vibration absorbers become more efficient because they work by
€ þ½Cfq_ g þ ½Kfqg ¼ fFg;
½Mfqg fFg ¼ f0; 0; 0; F 0 ejΩt ; 0; :::gT using inertial forces to stop an incoming wave with a frequency
2 1 within one of the two stopbands. On the other hand, Figs. 10c and
½H ¼ ð  Ω ½M þ jΩ½C þ ½KÞ ; fqg ¼ ½HfFg ¼ fH i4 gF 0 ejΩt ð15Þ
11c show that, with a larger c3 , the vibration absorbers become
Fig. 9a shows the frequency response function (FRF) H 101;2 of the more efficient because they work by damping out the incoming
transverse displacement of Node 101 at x ¼ L=2~ with a harmonic wave with a frequency outside of but between the two stopbands.
~
excitation at Node 2 at x ¼ L=200 ¼ 5 mm. Setting k2 and k3 -1 is Hence, it is important to choose an appropriate medium value for
equivalent to adding the vibration absorbers as dead masses to the c3 in order for the absorber to stop any incoming wave with a
beam and hence the absorbers cannot function at all. The FRF frequency within 0:894ω2 o Ω o 1:149ω2 .
with ς2 ¼ ς3 ¼ 0:0001 reveals that the absorbers designed with Fig. 11a–e shows that propagation of transverse waves in a
ω2 ¼ 2500 Hz create a stopband to the right side of Ω ¼ 0:894ω2 metamaterial beam is similar to that of longitudinal waves in a
and another stopband to the right side of Ω ¼ 1:118ω2 , as predicted metamaterial bar (see Fig. 3 and [18]). Because the proposed meta-
by Eqs. (8b), (11b) and (12) and shown in Fig. 8b. However, many material beam uses resonant inertia forces of absorbers to create
small peaks exist beside each stopband and between the two stopbands, it requires less additive masses and is more efficient than
stopbands, which are caused by local modal vibrations of the conventional band-gap grid structures that create stopbands by adding
absorbers. Fortunately, if the damping coefficient c3 is increased only lumped masses at nodes [29]. However, because the proposed
(e.g., ς3 ¼ 0:1), those peaks are eliminated. Hence, damping is absorber subsystems need to have discrete dampers in order to reduce
definitely needed for such vibration absorbers. If the absorbers are those small frequency response peaks beside stopbands (see Fig. 9)
designed with ω2 ¼ 1000 Hz, Fig. 9b shows again that the absorbers and those waves with frequencies between the two stopbands, the
create two stopbands to the right side of Ω ¼ 0:894ω2 and 1:118ω2 , cost is expected to be higher. Moreover, as shown in Fig. 1, the use of
and the many small peaks beside the stopbands can be suppressed two-mass absorbers requires more space for accommodation and
by increasing c3 . some restraints to prevent sideways vibration may be needed.
Fig. 10a–e shows the maximum steady-state wave profiles If the beam0 s material damping is neglected, simulation results
when ω2 ¼ 2500 Hz; ς2 ¼ 0:01; ς3 ¼ 0:1; Ω ¼ rω2 ; and r ¼ 0:7; 0:9; show that the steady-state wave profiles remain almost the same
 P.F. Pai et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205 203

Fig. 10. Steady-state wave profiles when Ω¼ rω2 , ω2 ¼ 2500 Hz, m2/m1 ¼ 0.1, Fig. 11. Steady-state wave profiles when Ω¼ rω2 , ω2 ¼2500 Hz, m2/m1 ¼ 0.1,
m3/m2 ¼k3/k2 ¼0.05, ς2 ¼0.01 and ς3 ¼0.1: (a) r ¼0.7, (b) r¼ 0.9, (c) r ¼1.0, m3/m2 ¼ k3/k2 ¼ 0.05, ς2 ¼ 0.01 and ς3 ¼ 0.01: (a) r¼ 0.7, (b) r¼ 0.9, (c) r¼ 1.0,
(d) r ¼1.12, and (e) r¼ 1.3, where black dots represent m2 and blue dots represent (d) r¼ 1.12, and (e) r¼ 1.3, where black dots represent m2 and blue dots represent
m3. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is m3. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is
referred to the web version of this article.) referred to the web version of this article.)

as those in Figs. 10 and 11 because the incoming wave is stopped

by the inertia and/or damping forces of the absorbers, not the absorbers cannot create significant inertia forces to balance out
beam0 s damping. However, our transient analysis by direct numer- the beam0 s internal shear force because the beam and absorbers
ical integration without the beam0 s material damping shows that move in phase. On the other hand, Fig. 12b and c shows that, if Ω is
it takes forever to reach the steady state because the beam0 s low- in one of the two stopbands, each vibration absorber creates a
frequency modes excited by the start-up of excitation decay very significant inertia force against the beam0 s internal shear force
slowly. Hence, for a material to be used to build a metamaterial because the beam and absorber move in an optical mode (i.e., out
structure, its material damping is better to be significant in order of phase), just like Eq. (10b) predicts. In Fig. 12c, the internal shear
to stop an incoming wave as fast as possible. € 0  γ€ Þ clearly shows its
force calculated using EIðw000  γ 00 Þ þ ρIðw
sudden changes toward zero at the absorber locations. Note that
5.3. Actual working mechanism the 20 absorbers in Fig. 12b add only 2.1% weight to the whole
structure and it works well. In the literature, the stopband effect is
To reveal the actual working mechanism of the metamaterial often explained by using the effective, negative dynamical mate-
beam shown in Figs. 1 and 7b, we consider a beam with 20 rial properties averaged over a unit cell, and the main idea for
absorbers at nodes 82, 84,…,120 (i.e., between x ¼ 40:5 cm and designing a broadband absorber is to increase the absorber mass
59:5 cm). Fig. 12a shows that, if Ω o 0:894ω2 , the vibration m2 [13]. As Fig. 12c shows, because the stopband effect is actually
204 P.F. Pai et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205

Fig. 12. A metamaterial beam with 20 vibration absorbers and Ω ¼rω2 ,

ω2 ¼ 2500 Hz, m2/m1 ¼0.1, m3/m2 ¼k3/k2 ¼0.05, ς2 ¼0.01 and ς3 ¼ 0.01: (a) steady-
state wave profile with r ¼0.7, and (b) and (c) steady-state wave profile and shear
force with r ¼0.9.

caused by resonance-induced inertia forces of a few absorbers, one

way to further increase the stopband width is to use several
groups of small light-weight vibration absorbers with resonance
frequencies covering a wide range of frequencies [19].

5.4. Design of low-frequency absorbers

For a high-frequency wave, because boundary conditions do

not have significant influences on its propagation, the locations of
and distance between absorbers do not have significant influences
on stopping wave propagation. In Fig. 12b, because some of the 20
absorbers are displaced upward and some downward, the absor-
bers undergo local resonance among themselves to create counter- Fig. 13. The wave profile and shear force of a metamaterial beam with 6 vibration
active shear forces to straighten the beam and hence the absorbers, Ω¼ 0.9ω2 , ω2 ¼ 300 Hz, m2/m1 ¼0.1, m3/m2 ¼ k3/k2 ¼ 0.05, ς2 ¼0.01 and
absorption of waves is not significantly affected by boundary ς3 ¼ 0.01: (a and b) absorbers at nodes 100, 102,…, 110, (c) absorbers at nodes 96,
98,…,106, and (d and e) absorbers at nodes 40, 50,…, 90. (For interpretation of the
conditions. On the other hand, boundary conditions have signifi-
references to color in this figure, the reader is referred to the web version of this
cant influences on the propagation of a low-frequency wave, and article.)
hence the locations of and distance between absorbers do have
significant influences on stopping wave propagation, as shown
in Fig. 13 under a harmonic excitation with ω2 ¼ 300 Hz and Ω ¼ Fig. 13a), it indicates that the absorbers undergo global resonance
0:9ω2 at x¼ 5 mm. With only 6 vibration absorbers, Fig. 13a and b with the beam (instead of local resonance among the absorbers
shows that the 6 absorbers cannot stop the incoming wave themselves) and they cannot decrease the vibration amplitude but
although the Ω is within the first stopband of the absorbers, but only change the phase of wave propagation, as shown in Fig. 13b.
Fig. 13c shows that the same 6 absorbers at a different location can If the absorbers are spread over λ=2, Fig. 13d and e shows that
stop the incoming wave. For a low-frequency wave, its wave the same 6 absorbers can suppress the vibration by local reso-
profile is mainly determined by the structure0 s boundary condi- nance among the absorbers because some absorbers displaced
tions. The red dotted line in Fig. 13a represents the wave profile upward and some downward. Hence, the absorption of low-
without absorbers. For a few absorbers to stop the incoming wave, frequency waves is significantly affected by boundary conditions,
they need to be at a high-curvature area in order to create the spatial location and distribution of absorbers, and the differ-
counteractive shear forces to straighten the beam (e.g., Fig. 13c). ence between the excitation frequency and the beam0 s natural
If the absorbers are in a low-curvature area (e.g., Fig. 13a), they frequencies. Moreover, low-frequency absorbers often undergo
cannot stop the wave at all even if the Ω is within one of the large-amplitude vibrations because the vibration frequency is
stopbands. Moreover, if all absorbers are close to each other and low and the corresponding inertia forces  m2 u€ 2 ð ¼ Ω2 m2 u2 Þ to
most absorbers are displaced to the same side of the beam (e.g., work against the internal shear force need to be increased by
 P.F. Pai et al. / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 79 (2014) 195–205 205

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