Scientists create material that can "block" sound
By combining mathematical research with 3D printing, researchers from Boston University have created a new material that seemingly defies conventional logic with the ability to… “block” sound.
In the future, there may be a completely different material with the strange ability to be called “sound-blocking metamaterial,” said researcher Xin Zhang, one of the lead researchers, in a press release.
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As initially revealed, scientists have begun calculating the dimensions and specifications a material would need to be able to reflect sound waves back to their source without blocking air or light.
They then 3D printed the material into a donut shape and attached it to one end of a PVC pipe, the other end to a speaker.
When a high note was blown from the speaker, the researchers found that it blocked 94% of the sound coming from the pipe.
“The moment we first put the silencer in and removed it was really special. We had been seeing these results in our computer simulation model for months,” said researcher Jacob Nikolajczyk.
“Our structure is super light and very beautiful,” Zhang and fellow researcher Reza Ghaffarivardavagh said in an official press release.
With this new discovery, scientists hope for the potential of using the material to reduce the sound of drones or even MRI machines in the future.
