Membrane-type metamaterials: Transmission loss of multi-celled arrays

Acoustic metamaterials with negative dynamic mass density have been shown to demonstrate a five-fold increase in transmission loss (TL) over mass law predictions for a narrowband (100 Hz) at low frequencies (100–1000 Hz). The present work focuses on the scale-up of this effect by examining the behavior of multiple elements arranged in arrays. Single membranes were stretched over rigid frame supports and masses were attached to the center of each divided cell. The TL behavior was measured for multiple configurations with different magnitudes of mass distributed across each of the cell membranes in the array resulting in a multipeak TL profile. To better understand scale-up issues, the effect of the frame structure compliance was evaluated, and more compliant frames resulted in a reduction in the TL peak frequency bandwidth. In addition, displacement measurements of frames and membranes were performed using a laser vibrometer. Finally, the measured TL of the multi-celled structure was compared with the TL behavior predicted by finite element analysis to understand the role of nonuniform mass distribution and frame compliance.