Acoustically penetrable sonic crystals based on fluid-like scatterers

Abstract

We propose a periodic structure that behaves as a fluid-fluid composite for sound waves, where the building blocks are clusters of rigid scatterers. Such building-blocks are penetrable for acoustic waves, and their properties can be tuned by selecting the filling fraction. The equivalence with a fluid-fluid system of such a doubly periodic composite is tested analytical and experimentally. Because of the fluid-like character of the scatterers, sound structure interaction is negligible, and the propagation can be described by scalar models, analogous to those used in electromagnetics. As an example, the case of focusing of evanescent waves and the guided propagation of acoustic waves along an array of penetrable elements is discussed in detail. The proposed structure may be a real alternative to design a low contrast and acoustically penetrable medium where new properties as those shown in this work could be experimentally realized.