Andrea Colombi

ETH Zurich | ETH Zürich · Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering

Motivated by the importance of lattice structures in multiple fields, we numerically investigate the propagation of flexural waves in a thin reticulated plate augmented with two classes of metastructures for wave mitigation and guiding, namely metabarriers and metalenses. The cellular architecture of this plate invokes the well-known octet topology...

Elastic waves guided along surfaces dominate applications in geophysics, ultrasonic inspection, mechanical vibration, and surface acoustic wave devices; precise manipulation of surface Rayleigh waves and their coupling with polarised body waves presents a challenge that offers to unlock the flexibility in wave transport required for efficient energ...

A comprehensive numerical study on the performance of a novel nonlinear foundation consisting of alternating layers of lead rubber bearings and concrete slabs is presented in this article. The novel design combines the established load bearing capacity of commercial bearings with wave propagation inhibition by means of Bragg scattering in periodic...

In this paper, we incorporate the effect of nonlinear damping with the concept of locally resonant metamaterials to enable vibration attenuation beyond the conventional bandgap range. The proposed design combines a linear host cantilever beam and periodically distributed inertia amplifiers as nonlinear local resonators. The geometric nonlinearity i...

We experimentally implement a one-directional virtual geometric periodicity in an elastic metamaterial. First, unwanted boundary reflections at the domain ends are cancelled through the iterative injection of the polarity-reversed reflected wave field. The resulting boundless experimental state allows for a much better analysis of the influence of...

Nonlinearity has enabled energy harvesting to advance towards higher power output and broader bandwidth in monostable, bistable, and multistable systems. However, challenges in operating in the high energy orbit (HEO) rather than low energy orbit (LEO) have restricted their applications. Based on a monostable nonlinear system, this paper proposes a...

This broad review summarizes recent advances and “hot” research topics in nanophononics and elastic, acoustic, and mechanical metamaterials based on results presented by the authors at the EUROMECH 610 Colloquium held on April 25–27, 2022 in Benicássim, Spain. The key goal of the colloquium was to highlight important developments in these areas, pa...

We experimentally demonstrate the capability of architected plates, with a frame-like cellular structure, to inhibit the propagation of elastic flexural waves. By leveraging the octet topology as a unit cell to design the tested prototypes, a broad and easy-to-tune bandgap is experimentally generated. The experimental outcomes are supported by exte...

This work proposes a graded metamaterial-based energy harvester integrating the piezoelectric energy harvesting function targeting low-frequency ambient vibrations (<100 Hz). The harvester combines a graded metamaterial with beam-like resonators, piezoelectric patches, and a self-powered interface circuit for broadband and high-capability energy ha...

This work studies a broadband graded metamaterial, which integrates the piezoelectric energy harvesting function targeting low-frequency structural vibrations, lying below 100 Hz. The device combines a graded metamaterial with beam-like resonators, piezoelectric patches and a self-powered piezoelectric interface circuit for energy harvesting. Based...

To prevent the severe effects of earthquake on built systems, structural engineering pursues attenuation of vibrations on structures. A recently surfaced means to structural vibration mitigation exploits the concept of metamaterials, i.e., of configurations able to control wave propagation in specific frequency ranges, termed band gaps. The current...

Granular materials can be used in laboratory-scale physical models to simulate and study seismic wave propagation in various unconsolidated, porous heterogeneous media. This is due to the diverse available grain configurations, in terms of their shape, size, and mechanical parameters, which enable the physical and geological modeling of various com...

Since the beginning of the 19th Century, a large number of authors have been interested in the phenomenon of coupling between soil and foundations under dynamic loading. With the advent of civil nuclear power at the end of the 1950s, the analysis and understanding of SSI took on another dimension and led to a new approach. Unlike the first analyses...

In this work, an unconsolidated granular medium, made of silica microbeads, is experimentally tested in a laboratory setting. The objective is to investigate the attenuation mechanisms of vertically polarized seismic waves traveling at the surface of unconsolidated substrates that are characterized by power-law rigidity profiles. Both geometric spr...

In this work, we investigate the dynamics and attenuation properties of a one-dimensional inertial amplified lattice with opposite chirality. The unit cell of the structure consists of a hollow-square plate connected to a ring through arch-like ligaments. The peculiar geometry and orientation of the links allow for coupling the axial and the torsio...

Motivated by the importance of lattice structures in multiple fields, we investigate the propagation of flexural waves in a thin woven plate augmented with two classes of metastructures for wave mitigation and guiding, namely metabarriers and metalenses. The cellular architecture of this plate invokes the well-known octet topology, while the metade...

In this work, we experimentally and numerically investigate the propagation and attenuation of vertically polarized surface waves in an unconsolidated granular medium equipped with small-scale metabarriers of different depths, i.e., arrays composed of one, two, and three embedded layers of sub-wavelength resonators. Our findings reveal how such a m...

We study numerically the potential of a multimodal elastic metamaterial to filter and guide Lamb waves in a plate. Using a sub-wavelength array of elongated beams attached to the plate, and combining the coupling effects of the longitudinal and flexural motion of these resonators, we create narrow transmission bands at the flexural resonances of th...

In this work, we experimentally and numerically investigate the propagation and attenuation of vertically polarized surface waves in an unconsolidated granular medium equipped with small-scale metabarriers of different depths, i.e., arrays composed of one, two, and three embedded layers of sub-wavelength resonators. Our findings reveal how such a m...

In this work we employ additive manufacturing to print a circular array of micropillars on an aluminum slab turning its top surface into a graded index metasurface for surface acoustic waves (SAW). The graded metasurface reproduces a Luneburg lens capable of focusing plane SAWs to a point. The graded index profile is obtained by exploiting the disp...

We amalgamate two fundamental designs from distinct areas of wave control in physics, and place them in the setting of elasticity. Graded elastic metasurfaces, so-called metawedges, are combined with the now classical Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model from the field of topological insulators. The resulting structures form one-dimensional graded-SSH...

We experimentally demonstrate that a rainbow-based metamaterial, created by a graded array of resonant rods attached to an elastic beam, operates as a mechanical delay-line by slowing down surface elastic waves to take advantage of wave interaction with resonance. Experiments demonstrate that the rainbow effect reduces the amplitude of the propagat...

The article analyses two potential metamaterial designs, the metafoundation and the metabarrier, capable to attenuate seismic waves impact on buildings or structural components in a frequency band between 3.5 and 8 Hz. The metafoundation serves the dual purpose of reducing the seismic response and supporting the superstructure. Conversely the metab...

In this paper, we describe the manifestation of localized states of a diffuse elastic wavefield inside a two-dimensional metamaterial made of a collection of vertical long beams glued to a thin plate. Through mesoscopic physics, we demonstrate that localized states arise due to multiwave interactions at the beam-plate attachment when the beams act...

In this paper, we describe the manifestation of localized states through coherent and incoherent analyses of a diffuse elastic wave field inside a two-dimensional metamaterial made of a collection of vertical long beams glued to a thin plate. We demonstrate that localized states arise due to multi-wave interactions at the beamplate attachment when...

We amalgamate two fundamental designs from distinct areas of wave control in physics, and place them in the setting of elasticity. Graded elastic metasurfaces, so-called metawedges, are combined with the now classical Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model from the field of topological insulators. The resulting structures form one-dimensional graded-SSH-...

We demonstrate that a rainbow-based metasurface, created by a graded array of resonant rods attached to an elastic beam, operates as a mechanical delay-line by slowing down surface elastic waves to take advantage of wave interaction with resonance. Experiments demonstrate that the rainbow effect reduces the amplitude of the propagating wave in the...

In this paper, the physics of horizontally polarized shear waves traveling across a locally resonant metasurface in an unconsolidated granular medium is experimentally and numerically explored. The metasurface is comprised of an arrangement of subwavelength horizontal mechanical resonators embedded in a granular layer made of silica microbeads. The...

The METAFORET experiment was designed to demonstrate that complex wave physics phenomena classically observed at the meso-and microscales in acoustics and in optics also apply at the geophysics scale. In particular, the experiment shows that a dense forest of trees can behave as a locally resonant metamaterial for seismic surface waves. The dense a...

In elastic wave systems, combining the powerful concepts of resonance and spatial grading within structured surface arrays enable resonant metasurfaces to exhibit broadband wave trapping, mode conversion from surface (Rayleigh) waves to bulk (shear) waves, and spatial frequency selection. Devices built around these concepts allow for precise contro...

In this paper, we describe the manifestation of localized states through coherent and incoherent analyses of a diffuse elastic wavefield inside a two-dimensional metamaterial made of a collection of vertical long beams glued to a thin plate. We demonstrate that localized states arise due to multi-wave interactions at the beamplate attachment when t...

Elastic waves guided along surfaces dominate applications in geophysics, ultrasonic inspection, mechanical vibration, and surface acoustic wave devices; precise manipulation of surface Rayleigh waves and their coupling with polarized body waves presents a challenge that offers to unlock the flexibility in wave transport required for efficient energ...

The METAFORET experiment was designed to demonstrate that complex wave physics phenomena classically observed at the meso-and micro-scales in acoustics and in optics also apply at the geophysics scale. In particular, the experiment shows that a dense forest of trees can behave as a locally resonant metamaterial for seismic surface waves. The dense...

In this article the physics of horizontally polarized shear waves travelling across a locally resonant metasurface in an unconsolidated granular medium is experimentally and numerically explored. The metasurface is comprised of an arrangement of sub-wavelength horizontal mechanical resonators embedded in silica microbeads. The metasurface supports...

The article analyses two potential metamaterial designs, the metafoundation and the metabarrier, capable to attenuate seismic waves on buildings or structural components in a frequency band between 3.5 to 8 Hz. The metafoundation serves the dual purpose of reducing the seismic response and supporting the superstructure. Conversely the metabarrier s...

In elastic wave systems, combining the powerful concepts of resonance and spatial grading within structured surface arrays enable resonant metasurfaces to exhibit broadband wave focusing, mode conversion from surface (Rayleigh) waves to bulk (shear) waves, and spatial frequency selection. Devices built around these concepts allow for precise contro...

Locally resonant metamaterials consisting of structured arrangements of repetitive resonant units have proven capable of controlling wave propagation across different wavelength scales. In the context of seismic and groundborne vibration mitigation, the so-called metabarriers and metafoundations, constituted by a 3D periodic arrangement of meter-siz...

Arrays of mechanical resonators, referred to as metasurfaces, have proven capable of controlling in-plane polarized surface waves across multiple length scales, i.e., from the micrometer scale, for the design of devices for sensing applications, up to the metric scale, for the attenuation of mechanical and seismic vibrations. In the context of seis...

We consider the propagation and mode conversion of flexural-acoustic waves along a fluid-loaded graded array of elastic resonators, forming a metasurface. The multi-physics nature of the problem, coupling two disparate physical systems, brings both challenges and novel features not previously seen in so-called bifunctional metamaterials. In particu...

S U M M A R Y Body waves are routinely observed in cross-correlations of ambient noise records from seismic arrays worldwide but it is still poorly understood how the lack of uniform coverage of body wave sources at sea impacts reconstruction of some deep seismic phases such as, for example, reflections on mantle discontinuities. These difficulties...

We report on a seismic metamaterial experiment in a pine-tree forest environment where the dense collection of trees behaves as subwavelength coupled resonators for surface seismic waves. For the METAFORET experiment, more than 1000 seismic sensors were deployed over a 120 m × 120 m area to study the properties of the ambient and induced seismic wa...

Les physiciens des ondes élaborent des modèles théoriques et numériques pour un contrôle accru de la lumière dans des matériaux structurés à l’échelle nanométrique et s’en inspirent pour contrôler les ondes mécaniques de Rayleigh dans des sols structurés à l’échelle métrique, avec des trous dans un sol ou des arbres en surface savamment agencés. Un...

Recent years have heralded the introduction of metasurfaces that advantageously combine the vision of sub- wavelength wave manipulation, with the design, fabrication and size advantages associated with surface excitation. An important topic within metasurfaces is the tailored rainbow trapping and selective spatial frequency separation of electromag...

In metamaterial science local resonance and hybridization are key phenomena strongly influencing the dispersion properties; the metasurface discussed in this article created by a cluster of resonators, subwavelength rods, atop an elastic surface being an exemplar with these features. On this metasurface, band-gaps, slow or fast waves, negative refr...

We consider wave propagation along fluid-loaded structures which take the form of an elastic plate augmented by an array of resonators forming a metasurface, that is, a surface structured with sub-wavelength resonators. Such surfaces have had considerable recent success for the control of wave propagation in electromagnetism and acoustics, by combi...

In this article, interpretation of an equivalent to a macroseismic intensity survey, performed in three identical stand‐alone buildings located in Grenoble, France, after an ML 4.1 earthquake, reveals a clustering effect, resulting in different levels of perception of seismic loading by inhabitants. The clustering effect is confirmed using numerica...

The dispersion curves of a cluster of closely spaced rods supported by a thin plate are characterised by subwavelength bandgaps and slow group velocities induced by local resonance effects. A recent analytical study [Williams, Roux, Rupin, and Kuperman (2015). Phys. Rev. B 91, 104307], has shown how the slow velocity branch depends, amongst other p...

In this presentation, we show recent results obtained by our research group on two types of elastic metamaterial that are capable of controlling the propagation of surface elastic waves at various physical scales: from tens of meter in geophysics to millimeters in ultrasonic. We begin from the geophysical scale introducing a metamaterial that uses...

Seismic design parameters for buildings are traditionally based on the seismicity of the area, the so-called site effects, and structural response decoupling with the underlying surface. It is however well known that buildings strongly affect the wavefield interacting in a non-linear way through the foundations and the surrounding soil. In dense ur...

We consider the canonical problem of an array of rods, which act as resonators, placed on an elastic substrate; the substrate being either a thin elastic plate or an elastic half-space. In both cases the flexural plate, or Rayleigh surface, waves in the substrate interact with the resonators to create interesting effects such as effective band-gaps...