Tuning sound with soft dielectrics

Eliana Bortot, Gal Shmuel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Soft dielectric tubes undergo large deformations when subjected to radial voltage. Using the theory of nonlinear electroelasticity, we investigate how voltage-controlled deformations of these tubes in an array alter acoustic wave propagation through it. We show that the propagation is annihilated across a certain audible frequency range, referred to as a sonic band gap. We carry out a numerical study, to find that the band gap depends nonlinearly on the voltage, owing to geometrical and material nonlinearities. By analyzing different mechanical constraints, we demonstrate that snap-through instabilities resulting from these nonlinearities can be harnessed to achieve sharp transitions in the gap width. Our conclusions hint at a new strategy to adaptively filter sound using a simple control parameter - an applied voltage.

Original languageEnglish
Article number045028
Number of pages10
JournalSmart Materials and Structures
Volume26
Issue number4
Early online date14 Mar 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • acoustics
  • dielectric elastomer
  • nonlinear elasticity
  • snap-through instability
  • sonic band gap
  • tunable phononic crystal
  • wave propagation

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