Energy trapping and shock disintegration in a composite granular medium

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental observation of energy trapping and shock wave disintegration in a composite granular medium, revealing nonlinear wave behavior and energy confinement within softer segments of the medium.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental demonstration of impulse energy confinement and wave disintegration in a specially assembled composite granular chain.

Findings

Energy is confined within softer segments of the composite.

Trapped energy is slowly released as weak, separated pulses.

The effect is enhanced by specific group assembly and superimposed force.

Abstract

Granular materials demonstrate a strongly nonlinear behavior influencing the wave propagation in the medium. We report the first experimental observation of impulse energy confinement and the resultant disintegration of shock and solitary waves. The medium consists of alternating ensambles of high-modulus vs orders of magnitude lower modulus chains of different masses. The trapped energy is contained within the "softer" portions of the composite chain and is slowly released in the form of weak, separated pulses over an extended period of time. This effect is enhanced by using a specific group assembly and superimposed force.