Backscattering reduction in a sharply bent water wave channel

Abstract

We study theoretically and experimentally how to reduce the backscattering of water waves in a channel with multiple turns. We show that it is not only possible to cancel backscattering but also to achieve a remarkable transmission in such geometries. In order to avoid the reflection that naturally arises at each turn of the waveguide, an anisotropic metamaterial made of closely-spaced thin vertical plates is used. The efficiency of the metamaterial arrangement depends only slightly on the frequency of the incident wave, as long as its wavelength is much larger than the periodicity of the array. This phenomenon is not restricted only to water wave channels but also applies to any type of waves with Neumann boundary conditions.