Bloch–Floquet waves and localisation within a heterogeneous waveguide with long cracks

A bi-material waveguide is assumed to have an array of sufficiently long cracks parallel to the boundaries. The Bloch–Floquet waves propagating along such a waveguide are dispersive, and the band gaps are clearly identified. Slow waves are supported by a system of long cracks, and such modes are represented by the flat dispersion surfaces. Asymptotic analysis combines a lower-dimensional approximation together with the boundary layers occurring near the crack tips. Stress intensity factors are evaluated via the boundary layer analysis, which is matched with the outer fields corresponding to the lower-dimensional model. Evolution of such an elastic system is discussed as the cracks grow as a consequence of the stress concentration, which occurs for some slow waves leading to the crack opening. The asymptotic analysis is supplied with numerical simulations and physical examples.