Transient response of a gyro-elastic structured medium: Unidirectional waveforms and cloaking

The transient analysis of gyro-elastic structured media, composed of periodically placed masses interconnected by elastic rods and attached to gyroscopic spinners, is presented. The analysis is based on an asymptotic transient model, developed in this paper, that describes the interaction between a gyroscopic spinner and a mass embedded in a truss system. Several examples are given that illustrate the transient features of special dynamic phenomena, including unidirectional interfacial waves and highly localised waveforms. Two important applications of the model are also proposed, which demonstrate that gyro-elastic systems can be utilised to design an efficient structured topological insulator and a cloaking device for a discrete medium.