Analysis and Optimal Design of Stress Wave Intensity Attenuation in Layered Structures

Within the framework of linear two-dimensional elastodynamics, stress wave intensity attenuators are studied under material and boundary condition discontinuities collectively. The influence of various parameters on the efficiency of stress wave attenuators is investigated thoroughly and a comprehensive understanding of the response is developed under dynamic loadings for a wide range of frequencies. In particular, the effect of in-plane and out-of-plane dimensions, incident wave frequencies (wavelength), rigidity of the host structure, and impedance mismatch between different layers have been examined. The dependence of stress wave attenuator efficiency and robustness are found to be a complex function of all relevant parameters, and performance is observed to vary significantly for various combinations. To illustrate the significance of combined effects of various parameters on the potential efficiency of the stress wave intensity attenuators, an optimization problem is solved. An optimal material set-up of a 12-layered structure, subjected to transient loadings with varying durations and wide range of frequency contents, is presented. A coupled genetic algorithm-finite element methodology is developed specifically for the optimal design of layered structures. This methodology is highly suitable for investigating the solution space that is too large to be explored by an exhaustive parametric study. The results of the optimal designs evidently show that the efficiency of the stress wave attenuators depends significantly on the duration of transient loading, and high efficiency can be attained for short durations.