Nonlinear Wave Propagation in 1D Polycatenated Ring Chains
Written by Alice X. on
Chains of interlocked rings — chainmail, essentially — carry waves that behave nothing like those in classical granular crystals. Combining impact experiments, finite-element modeling, and discrete-particle simulations of gravity-pretensioned vertical chains, we observe nonlinear waves with a compact leading front followed by persistent trailing oscillations, which arise from energy partitioning into the rings' internal bending modes. The nonlinearity itself is tunable: changing the rings' aspect ratio and contact angles changes the effective contact exponent and how wave speed scales with amplitude. Xiaoxiao Xiong, Reo Yanagi, Tingtao Zhou, and Chiara Daraio, arXiv:2605.23001 (2026).