Transition Waves for Energy Trapping and Harvesting

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Srikanth, Sneha, Arrieta, Andres F.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866912964927291392
author Srikanth, Sneha
Arrieta, Andres F.
author_facet Srikanth, Sneha
Arrieta, Andres F.
contents The presence of multiple stable states and associated nonlinear phenomena, such as hysteresis, in multistable mechanical metamaterials enables frequency-independent energy harvesting and shock absorption. This study focuses on shock absorption achieved by locking transition waves to trap energy at designed locations within a multistable metamaterial. We further demonstrate that the same system can simultaneously harvest energy from impact loading, thereby exhibiting multifunctionality. The model of the multistable metamaterial is a one-dimensional chain of bistable units whose transition wave dynamics are related to topological solitary waves governed by the $ϕ^4$ equation. This connection enables analytical estimation of critical design parameters required for energy trapping and also the amount of energy trapped. Numerical simulations and experiments show that trapping energy in transition waves leads to enhanced damping performance compared to corresponding linear metamaterials. We further propose design variations to increase the amount of energy trapped in the transition wave. Additionally, we identify energy splitting as a damping mechanism that arises when there are repeated impulses or a single high-amplitude impulse that generates multiple transition waves. The transition waves interact to produce localized, fast-dissipating breathers, leading to a damped response. Furthermore, experiments demonstrate that multistable metamaterials can simultaneously achieve improved energy harvesting and better damping performance compared to their linear counterparts. Together, these results highlight the use of transition waves for creating multifunctional multistable metamaterials.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_13046
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Transition Waves for Energy Trapping and Harvesting
Srikanth, Sneha
Arrieta, Andres F.
Pattern Formation and Solitons
Materials Science
Applied Physics
The presence of multiple stable states and associated nonlinear phenomena, such as hysteresis, in multistable mechanical metamaterials enables frequency-independent energy harvesting and shock absorption. This study focuses on shock absorption achieved by locking transition waves to trap energy at designed locations within a multistable metamaterial. We further demonstrate that the same system can simultaneously harvest energy from impact loading, thereby exhibiting multifunctionality. The model of the multistable metamaterial is a one-dimensional chain of bistable units whose transition wave dynamics are related to topological solitary waves governed by the $ϕ^4$ equation. This connection enables analytical estimation of critical design parameters required for energy trapping and also the amount of energy trapped. Numerical simulations and experiments show that trapping energy in transition waves leads to enhanced damping performance compared to corresponding linear metamaterials. We further propose design variations to increase the amount of energy trapped in the transition wave. Additionally, we identify energy splitting as a damping mechanism that arises when there are repeated impulses or a single high-amplitude impulse that generates multiple transition waves. The transition waves interact to produce localized, fast-dissipating breathers, leading to a damped response. Furthermore, experiments demonstrate that multistable metamaterials can simultaneously achieve improved energy harvesting and better damping performance compared to their linear counterparts. Together, these results highlight the use of transition waves for creating multifunctional multistable metamaterials.
title Transition Waves for Energy Trapping and Harvesting
topic Pattern Formation and Solitons
Materials Science
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13046