Active control of flexural waves in a phononic crystal beam with staggered periodic properties

The band gaps of a phononic crystal beam with staggered periodic structure are investigated. The periodic system consists of a pure elastic (i.e. PMMA) matrix beam and some piezoelectric (i.e. PZT) patches with coupling between the mechanical–electrical components. The PZT patches connected by negative capacitance circuits are applied to function as the active control system. Based on the condition at the interface between adjacent unit cells, the transfer matrix and localization factor are derived. The influence of the degree of interlacing and negative capacitance circuits are discussed. The numerical results show that another band gap can be generated by the staggered periodic structure of PZT patches. The widths and locations of the band gaps can be changed by the degree of interlacing.