High-frequency homogenization in periodic media with imperfect interfaces

In this work, the concept of high-frequency homogenization is extended to the case of one-dimensional periodic media with imperfect interfaces of the spring-mass type. In other words, when considering the propagation of elastic waves in such media, displacement and stress discontinuities are allowed across the borders of the periodic cell. As is customary in high-frequency homogenization, the homogenization is carried out about the periodic and antiperiodic solutions corresponding to the edges of the Brillouin zone. Asymptotic approximations are provided for both the higher branches of the dispersion diagram (second-order) and the resulting wave field (leading-order). The special case of two branches of the dispersion diagram intersecting with a non-zero slope at an edge of the Brillouin zone (occurrence of a so-called Dirac point) is also considered in detail, resulting in an approximation of the dispersion diagram (first-order) and the wave field (zeroth-order) near these points. Finally, a uniform approximation valid for both Dirac and non-Dirac points is provided. Numerical comparisons are made with the exact solutions obtained by the Bloch–Floquet approach for the particular examples of monolayered and bilayered materials. In these two cases, convergence measurements are carried out to validate the approach, and we show that the uniform approximation remains a very good approximation even far from the edges of the Brillouin zone.