A compact low-frequency sound absorption metastructure realized by resonators with wavy bending necks

Abstract In this work, a compact low-frequency sound absorption metastructure composed of multiple resonators with embedded wavy bending necks is proposed. By arranging this metastructure in parallel and optimizing the parameters, it exhibits excellent broadband sound absorption capability in low-frequency range and has a much more compact volume. Compared with the traditional resonators, an individual resonator of this metastructure can move down the absorption frequency about 120 Hz while maintaining the same thickness. Furthermore, different resonator units are combined into a sound absorption array by employing appropriate design techniques. We first built a small metastructure composed of four units to demonstrate the correctness and accuracy of our design method. Both theoretical models and finite element simulation models are built and experimental results show good agreement between them. To achieve the same absorption value and frequency range, the thickest resonator in the traditional resonator array must be 30% thicker than the one in the wavy bending neck resonator array, which means the overall size of the structure is 30% larger. Following this design method, perfect sound absorption within the frequency range of 248 Hz–420 Hz is achieved with a compact volume of 53 mm in radius and 47 mm in height. The design strategy presents a new approach to achieve perfect broadband low-frequency sound absorption.