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<\/p>\nLos Metamateriales Ac\u00fasticos son desarrollados para controlar la atenuaci\u00f3n de las ondas de sonido. Investigadores del Departamento de Ingenier\u00eda mec\u00e1nica de la Universidad de Boston han desarrollado, mediante el empleo de equipos de Impresi\u00f3n 3D y metamateriales ac\u00fasticos, un sistema de barreras de sonido de alta eficiencia, que se presentan como una potencial soluci\u00f3n tecnol\u00f3gica para el dise\u00f1o de silenciadores de armas de fuego.<\/p>\n
Recent research from the\u00a0Department of Mechanical Engineering of Boston University\u00a0made headlines in several non-specialized blogs and media, thanks to its potential. Boston Engineers managed to design and manufacture a noise canceling\u00a0barrier\u00a0which allows airflow to pass through.<\/p>\n
The team of Engineers set forth on developing a sound\u00a0barrier\u00a0that could, for example, be put on the exhaust of a jet engine, reducing its noise without affecting its thrust.<\/p>\n
The concept, together with the \u201cdonut\u201d shape adopted for the prototype, automatically takes the thought to\u00a0firearm\u00a0suppressors.<\/p>\n
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Let\u2019s have a very quick look at what acoustic metamaterials are, first.<\/p>\n
Acoustic Metamaterials<\/strong><\/p>\n Are these actually specific materials? The short answer is No.<\/p>\n Wikipedia\u00a0provides the following brief introduction to metamaterials:<\/p>\n A\u00a0metamaterial<\/b>\u00a0(from the Greek word \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ac\u00a0meta<\/i>, meaning \u201cbeyond\u201d) is a material engineered to have a property that is not found in naturally occurring materials.\u00a0<\/sup>They are made from assemblies of multiple elements fashioned from composite materials such as metals or plastics. The materials are usually arranged in repeating patterns, at\u00a0scales\u00a0that are smaller than the wavelengths of the phenomena they influence. Metamaterials derive their properties not from the properties of the base materials, but from their newly designed structures.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Different categories of metamaterials exist, depending on the type of phenomena they are designed to influence. For example, those designed to control electromagnetic radiations, such as visible light, could, in theory, allow the creation of an\u00a0invisibility cloak.<\/p>\n Acoustic metamaterials are therefore structures engineered in such a way that allows them to control specific properties of sound.<\/p>\n Regarding the actual manufacturing of these structures, anyone who is familiar with 3D printing knows that lattice architectures are usually associated with these processes. It\u2019s therefore easy to realize that these metamaterials can benefit enormously from the design freedom unlocked by additive manufacturing.<\/p>\n Boston University Experiment<\/strong><\/p>\n Below the video of the actual experiment which is claimed to have offered a sound reduction of 94%:<\/p>\n