A Pragmatic Design of Elastic Metamaterial with Extreme Anisotropic Stiffness

Abstract

Traditional elastic metamaterials encounter difficulties when trying to independently adjust the operating frequency in two perpendicular directions. In this research, we present a practical active elastic metamaterial with the capability to achieve extreme stiffness anisotropy. Our approach involves incorporating piezoelectric patches, coupled with adjustable conductance, into the microstructure unit cell to control the effective elastic stiffness in both primary directions. We conduct simulations to manipulate wave propagation within such metamaterials and conduct experimental investigations to validate the design. The obtained results closely align with mathematical analysis and numerical predictions, demonstrating the effectiveness of our proposed metamaterial. This novel approach offers a versatile and innovative design methodology for elastic metamaterials.