Active control on switchable waveguide of elastic wave metamaterials with the 3D printing technology

Propagation of elastic waves along a direction has special interests in practical applications. These concerns generate the design of an elastic wave metamaterial with electrically switchable properties, which is studied in this work. The structure contains a T-shaped waveguide in a plate with the 3D printing technology; and the active control system is used to tune the propagation direction of the flexural wave. The piezoelectric patches which are connected by the negative capacitance circuits are applied to behave as the active control system. The finite element simulation is performed to give the theoretical prediction of the switchable waveguide and the tunable equivalent parameters are achieved by the electrical circuits. The active control experiments are finally carried out to support the numerical design.