Harnessing instability-induced pattern transformation to design tunable phononic crystals

We investigate the propagation of elastic waves in four periodic porous elastomeric planar structures, where pattern transformation is induced by mechanical instability under uniaxial compression. A series of numerical analyses is performed to offer a detailed understanding of the evolution of their spectral band-gaps as a function of void patterns, porosity, and applied deformation. The results of our study outline a general strategy to design phononic crystals whose response can be effectively tuned by the level of applied deformation.