New devices for noise control and acoustic cloaking

Resumen

The aim of this work is to design new acoustic devices based on arrangements of scattering units. First, the use of sonic crystals as noise barriers for traffic noise control is comprehensively analyzed. Due to the limitations of the conventional structures based on rigid scatterers, the inclusion of absorbing elements is proposed. Two different types of absorbers are here considered: porous materials and microperforated plates. In the first case, the attenuation characteristics of barriers made with cylinders containing rubber crumb is analyzed. The second proposal is based on the construction of cylindrical microperforated shells. Analytical approaches modelling the behavior of the barriers have been developed in both cases. These models show a satisfactory agreement with the corresponding experimental realizations. Finally, an optimization process is performed in order to obtain efficient sound barriers intended to attenuate traffic noise. Another application considered in this work is the construction of cloaks to render objects acoustically invisible. In particular, cloaks made with rigid inclusions are designed to operate with airborne sound. The first proposal consists of a cloak that utilizes the temperature of the background to control the properties of the effective medium. In addition, two and three-dimensional cloaks have been developed through the scattering cancellation technique. These devices have been designed by means of an optimization procedure and their performance has been experimentally demonstrated.