Using PWE/FE Method to Calculate the Band Structures of the Semi-Infinite PCs : Periodic in x-y Plane and Finite in z–direction

This paper introduces the concept of semi-infinite phononic crystal (PC) on account of the Infinite periodicity in x-y plane and finiteness in z-direction. The plane wave expansion and finite element methods are coupled and formulized to calculate the band structures of the proposed periodic elastic composite structures based on the typical geometric properties. First, the coupled plane wave expansion and finite element (PWE/FE) method is applied to calculate the band structures of the Pb/rubber, steel/epoxy and steel/aluminum semi-infinite PCs with cylindrical scatters. Then, it is used to calculate the band structure of the Pb/rubber semi-infinite PC with cubic scatter. Last, the band structure of the rubbercoated Pb/epoxy three-component semi-infinite PC is calculated by the proposed method. Besides, all the results are compared with those calculated by the finite element (FE) method implemented by adopting COMSOL Multiphysics. Numerical results and further analysis demonstrate that the proposed PWE/FE method has strong applicability and high accuracy.