Dispersion and attenuation of a longitudinal wave propagating in a metamaterial defined as a mass-to-mass chain

We study the features of propagation of a longitudinal wave in an acoustic (mechanical) metamaterial, modeled as a one-dimensional chain, containing equal masses, connected by elastic elements (springs), and having the same rigidity. Each mass contains within itself a series connection of another mass and viscous element (damper). The mass-to-mass model is free from the drawbacks of a number of other mechanical models of metamaterials: i.e. it eliminates the need to have the property of a deformable body to possess a negative mass, density, and (or) a negative elastic modulus. It is shown that the model under consideration makes it possible to describe the dispersion and frequency-dependent attenuation of a longitudinal wave, the character of which essentially depends on the ratio of the external and internal mass of the metamaterial. The behavior of the phase and group velocities of the wave is studied, as well as the evolution of its profile, both in the low-frequency and high-frequency ranges. The mass ratios were found at which the phase velocity exceeds the group velocity (normal dispersion) in magnitude and those at which the group velocity exceeds the phase velocity (anomalous dispersion) in a wide frequency range. Having the same asymptotic values when the frequency tends to infinity, the phase and group velocities have significant differences in behavior, namely, that the phase velocity is a monotonic function of frequency, and the group velocity has a maximum. In addition, in the region of normal dispersion, the group velocity may be negative, i.e. the so-called “reverse wave” effect is true, when, despite the fact that the phase velocity is directed in the positive direction of the spatial axis, the energy in such a wave is transferred in the negative direction.