Advances in acoustic metamaterials

Abstract

Acoustic metamaterials offer a new paradigm for the control and manipulation of sound waves that are often unachievable through conventional materials. The potential this offers to the field of sound absorption, insulation, cloaking, and imaging are remarkable. Acoustic metamaterials also allow material constructs to be tuned both actively and passively for reconfigurable material that offers unprecedented wave manipulation. Challenges remain, in simplifying, identifying scaling techniques and deriving design guidelines for the manufacture of large-scale acoustic metamaterials to transform laboratory prototypes to useful devices. However, research in this area is rapidly evolving with the necessary building blocks that can be additively manufactured or assembled to form metamaterials. In this regard, the article provides a general introduction into acoustic metamaterials followed by their qualifiers. The focus is placed on summarizing the advances that are happening in the field of acoustic metamaterials classified based on potential application. In doing so key design approaches and resulting properties of acoustic metamaterials are discussed in relation to their most recent advancements.