Wave propagation and band gaps in homogenized phononic plates — modelling by spectral decomposition

The paper deals with analysis of the elastic waves in the Reissner-Mindlin type of plates formed by strongly heterogeneous structures. The homogenized plate model involves frequency-dependent mass coefficients associated with the plate cross-section rotations and the plate deflections. Intervals of frequencies called band gaps exist for which these coefficients constituting a mass matrix can be negative, so that certain wave modes cannot propagate. A spectral decomposition based method is proposed which is suitable to compute the plate response for an external loading by periodic forces with frequencies in range of the band gaps. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)