Broadband vibration isolation in a finite elastic rod with tailored resonators

Abstract

Elastic and acoustic metamaterials and their ability to suppress noise and vibration have garnered broad interest. However, existing research has focused mainly on periodic metamaterial structures with identical vibration absorbers or resonators, while metamaterial structures with non-uniform and aperiodic resonators have received little attention. This paper presents a method for constructing broad frequency bands of low-vibration transmission using tailored resonators without enforcing restrictions on the resonators’ dynamic properties and positions. In contrast to conventional periodic metamaterials, the method we present connects individual localised resonance bands by strategically tuning and customising the resonators’ dynamic properties. We demonstrate through comparative case studies that tailored resonators can achieve broader attenuation bands with less total mass than periodic and identical resonators. Furthermore, we show that the number of resonators to achieve a preset vibration transmission level can be minimised using an iterative analysis process. Our approach provides enhanced design flexibility and efficiency in creating broad attenuation bands, offering new possibilities for practical vibration control applications where traditional periodic metamaterials face limitations.