Viscoelastic response of sonic band-gap materials

Abstract

The effect of viscoelastic losses in a high-density contrast sonic band-gap material of close-packed rubber spheres in air is discussed. The scattering properties of such a material are computed with an on-shell multiple-scattering method, properties which are compared with the lossless case. The existence of an appreciable omnidirectional gap in the transmission spectrum, when losses are present, is also reported.