A membrane-type acoustic metamaterial with adjustable acoustic properties

A new realization of a membrane-type acoustic metamaterial (MAM) with adjustable sound transmission properties is presented. The proposed design distinguishes itself from other realizations by a stacked arrangement of two MAMs which is inflated using pressurized air. The static pressurization leads to large nonlinear deformations and, consequently, geometrical stiffening of the MAMs which is exploited to adjust the eigenmodes and sound transmission loss of the structure. A theoretical analysis of the proposed inflatable MAM design using numerical and analytical models is performed in order to identify two important mechanisms, namely the shifting of the eigenfrequencies and modal residuals due to the pressurization, responsible for the transmission loss adjustment. Analytical formulas are provided for predicting the eigenmode shifting and normal incidence sound transmission loss of inflated single and double MAMs using the concept of effective mass. The investigations are concluded with results from a test sample measurement inside an impedance tube, which confirm the theoretical predictions. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.