Investigation of locally resonant absorption and factors affecting the absorption band of a phononic glass

We experimentally and theoretically investigated the mechanisms of acoustic absorption in phononic glass to optimize its properties. First, we experimentally studied its locally resonant absorption mechanism. From these results, we attributed its strong sound attenuation to its locally resonant units and its broadband absorption to its networked structure. These experiments also indicated that the porosity and thickness of the phononic glass must be tuned to achieve the best sound absorption at given frequencies. Then, using lumped-mass methods, we studied how the absorption bandgaps of the phononic glass were affected by various factors, including the porosity and the properties of the coating materials. These calculations gave optimal ranges for selecting the porosity, modulus of the coating material, and ratio of the compliant coating to the stiff matrix to achieve absorption bandgaps in the range of 6–30 kHz. This paper provides guidelines for designing phononic glasses with proper structures and component materials to work in specific frequency ranges.