Scattering of finite-size anisotropic metastructures via the relaxed micromorphic model.

The conception of new metamaterials showing unorthodox behaviors with respect to elastic wavepropagation has become possible in recent years thanks to powerful dynamical homogenization techniques. Such methods effectively allow to describe the behavior of an infinite medium generated by periodically architectured base materials. Nevertheless, when it comes to the study of the scattering properties of finite-sized structures, dealing with the correct boundary conditions at the macroscopic scale becomes challenging. In this paper, we show how finite-domain boundary value problems can be set-up in the framework of enriched continuum mechanics (relaxed micromorphic model) by imposing continuity of macroscopic displacement and of generalized traction when non-local effects are neglected. The case of a metamaterial slab of finite width is presented, its scattering properties are studied via a semi-analytical solution of the relaxed micromorphic model and compared to numerical simulations encoding all details of the selected microstructure. The reflection coefficient obtained via the two methods is presented as a function of the frequency and of the direction of propagation of the incident wave. We find excellent agreement for a large range of frequencies going from the long-wave limitto frequencies beyond the first band-gap and for angles of incidence ranging from normal to near parallel incidence. The case of a semi-infinite metamaterial is also presented and is seen to be a reliable measure of the average behavior of the finite metastructure. A tremendous gain in terms of computational time is obtained when using the relaxed micromorphic model for the study of the considered metastructure.