Locally resonant sonic materials

TLDR: Sonic crystals are fabricated, based on the idea of localized resonant structures, that exhibit spectral gaps with a lattice constant two orders of magnitude smaller than the relevant wavelength that are shown to break the conventional mass-density law of sound transmission.

Abstract: We have fabricated a new type of composite which displays localized sonic resonances at ∼350– 2000 Hz with a microstructure size in the millimeter to centimeter range. Around the resonance frequencies the composite behaves as a material with effective negative elastic constants and as a total wave reflector—a 2 cm slab of this material is shown to break the conventional mass-law of sound transmission by order(s) of magnitude. When the microstructure is periodic, our composites exhibit large elastic wave band gaps at the sonic frequency range, with a lattice constant order(s) of magnitude smaller than the corresponding sonic wavelength in air. Good agreement is obtained between theory and experiment.