Slow sound propagation in a sonic crystal linear waveguide

A linear waveguide along the [11] direction of a triangular sonic crystal, composed of aluminum cylinders in air is shown both experimentally and numerically to facilitate slow sound propagation. Supercell-based calculations through the finite element method reveal a band centered at approximately 16.0 kHz with 255 Hz span, exhibiting linear variation away from band edges, for the lattice constant and cylinder radii of 21.7 mm and 10.0 mm, respectively. The experimental setup is based on monitoring the propagation of a Gaussian-enveloped sinusoidal pulse at 16.0 kHz inside the waveguide. Numerical behavior of the Gaussian pulse is investigated by time-dependent finite-element computations. The experimental and numerical group velocities are found to be 26.7 m/s and 22.6 m/s, respectively. Being congruous with the experimental findings, numerical transient study of the system reveals significant longitudinal compression commensurate with the calculated group index. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3676581]