Controllable propagation of bending waves in wrinkled films

Wrinkling is a common phenomenon in natural and engineering film structures. The wrinkles influence the geometry and dynamic response of these structures. In this work, we investigate the wrinkling of a stretched thin film containing engineered microstructures and its derived functionality on controlling the propagation of bending waves. The underlying mechanism is revealed and the effect of wrinkles on the bandgap of bending waves is systematically evaluated via numerical simulations based on the Bloch wave theory. We show that wrinkles with a customized wavelength can be triggered in the microstructured film due to the mismatched deformation in the film. The bandgap of the wrinkled film can be finely tuned via applied stretching, resulting in the controllable propagation of bending waves in thin films. Our work provides fundamental insights into wave propagation in wrinkled films and potential applications for dynamic control of the wave propagation in engineering film structures.