Band-Gap Properties of Prestressed Structures

The design of periodicPeriodic and quasiperiodicPrestressed structures possessing innovative filtering properties for elasticElastic wavesWaves opens the way to the realization of elasticElastic metamaterials. In these structures prestressPrestress has a strong influence, ‘shifting’ in frequencyFrequency, but also ‘annihilating’ or ‘nucleating’ band gapsBand gap. The effects of prestressPrestress are demonstrated with examples involving flexural wavesWaves in periodicPeriodic and quasiperiodic beamsBeams and periodicPeriodic platesPlate. Results highlight that prestressPrestress can be employed as a ‘tuning parameter’ for continuously changing vibrational properties of elasticElastic metamaterials.