Topology optimization of chiral metamaterials with application to underwater sound insulation

Abstract

Chiral metamaterials have been proven to possess many appealing mechanical phenomena, such as negative Poisson’s ratio, high-impact resistance, and energy absorption. This work extends the applications of chiral metamaterials to underwater sound insulation. Various chiral metamaterials with low acoustic impedance and proper stiffness are inversely designed using the topology optimization scheme. Low acoustic impedance enables the metamaterials to have a high and broadband sound transmission loss (STL), while proper stiffness guarantees its robust acoustic performance under a hydrostatic pressure. As proof-of-concept demonstrations, two specimens are fabricated and tested in a water-filled impedance tube. Experimental results show that, on average, over 95% incident sound energy can be isolated by the specimens in a broad frequency range from 1 kHz to 5 kHz, while the sound insulation performance keeps stable under a certain hydrostatic pressure. This work may provide new insights for chiral metamaterials into the underwater applications with sound insulation.