Band gap optimization of one-dimension elastic waveguides using spatial Fourier plane wave expansion coefficients

Periodic elastic waveguides, such as rods, beams, and shafts, exhibit frequency bands where wave reflections at impedance discontinuities cause strong wave attenuation by Bragg scattering. Such frequency bands are known as stop bands or band gaps. This work presents a shape optimization technique for one-dimensional periodic structures. The proposed approach, which aims to maximize the width of the first band gap, uses as tuning parameters the spatial Fourier coefficients that describe the shape of the cell cross-section variation along its length. Since the optimization problem is formulated in terms of Fourier coefficients, it can be directly applied to the Plane Wave Expansion (PWE) method, commonly used to obtain the dispersion diagrams, which indicate the presence of band gaps. The proposed technique is used to optimize the shape of a straight bar with both solid and hollow circular cross-sections. First, the optimization is performed using the elementary rod, the Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam, and the shaft theoretical models in an independent way. Then, the optimization is conducted to obtain a complete band gap in the dispersion diagrams, which includes the three wave types, i.e., longitudinal, bending, and torsional. All numerical results provided feasible shapes that generate wide stop bands in the dispersion diagrams. The proposed technique can be extended to two- and three-dimensional periodic frame structures, and can also be adapted for different classes of cost functions.