  The non-smooth dynamics is investigated for an elastic planar metainterface
composed by two layers of buckling elements, each one allowing motion on one
side only. Through the analogy between buckling and unilateral contact and by
assuming no-bouncing at impact, the motion of the relevant two degrees of
freedom system is reduced to that of a single degree governed by a
piecewise-smooth differential equation. The metainterface dynamics has strong
similarities with the rocking motion of rigid blocks and displays several types
of dynamic bifurcations in the presence of oscillatory forces, including period
doubling, branch point cycle, grazing, as well as quasi-periodic and chaotic
responses. Moreover, the multistable response is found to be broaden to
conditions representative of monostable states within a quasi-static setting,
disclosing a multistability anticipation by dynamics. The wide landscape of the
dynamic response for the buckling based metainterface provides a novel
theoretical framework to be exploited in the design of mechanical devices for
vibration attenuation and for energy harvesting.
