Inverse Design of Thin-Plate Elastic Wave Devices

Abstract: Motivated by recent advances in the inverse design of electromagnetic materials, we develop two methods for manipulating flexural waves on thin elastic plates. Firstly, we derive a technique for determining plate pinning or mass-loading of a thin plate, designing structures that focus elastic energy, or isolate a region of space from vibrations. Taking inspiration from the adjoint method in electromagnetism, we show how to design graded plates to act as lenses or perform mode shaping. Both of the methods presented are simple, versatile and straightforward to implement, making them useful for designing a wide range of devices for sensing, energy harvesting and vibration isolation.