Virtual Material Design

Homogenization Theory for Dense Electromagnetic and Sonic Materials

The applications of materials for new technological challenges have an obvious limitation: natural materials have determined properties that are not always the required ones for an optimal functionality.

In the context of wave propagation through materials, the theory of composites has received a new insight with the advent of the so called metamaterials: hand-made artificial composites with extraordinary properties not found in nature. These structures not only provide constitutive parameters different from those of natural materials, but also they provide different propagation regimes which are not possible in their constitutive materials separately.

In general the development of powerful mathematical tools is required for the description of metamaterials, since, given their complexity, the classical effective medium theories for composites tend to be incomplete or inaccurate for this purpose, especially when the constituent elements are close to each other (high filling fraction regime).

The main objective of the present project will be the development of an efficient effective medium theory for the description of metamaterials at high filling fractions.

This theory will be refined iteratively by means of experimental data and will be finally applied to the development of new materials, devices and applications.

Numerical simulations of realistic metamaterials will constitute therefore a key element of the project.