Wave propagation in tailored metastructures consisting of elastic beams and rigid bodies

This paper presents a study of wave propagation through an infinite periodic structure that consists of elastic Timoshenko beams interconnected with rigid bodies. This is a generalized approach in which the beams are not coaxial and the centre of mass of each rigid body is placed away from the intersection of their neutral axes. An analytical approach is used by applying the transfer matrix method (TMM), along with the Floquet-Bloch theorem for elastic wave propagation. Subsequent parametric analysis is performed with visualization of resulting band diagrams of a representative structure. These results are verified through comparison with solutions obtained using the finite-element method (FEM). In this manner, a comprehensive dynamical analysis of tailored metastructures is provided.This article is part of the theme issue 'Current developments in elastic and acoustic metamaterials science (Part 2)'.