The use of periodic structures as noise abatement devices has already been the object of considerable research seeking to understand its efficiency and see to what extent they can provide a functional solu- tion in mitigating noise from different sources. The specific case of sonic crystals consisting of different materials has received special attention in studying the influence of different variables on its acoustic performance. The present work seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the behavior of these structures by implementing an approach based on the numerical method of fundamental solutions (MFS) to model the acoustic behavior of two-dimensional sonic crystals. The MFS formulation proposed here is used to evaluate the performance of crystals composed of circular elements, studying the effect of varying dimen- sions and spacing of the crystal elements as well as their acoustic absorption in the sound attenuation provided by the global structure, in what concerns typical traffic noise sources, and establishing some broad indications for the use of those structures.

Main aim of this study is to combine the characteristics of the sonic crystal (SC) with acoustic panels and porous materials to improve the sound transmission loss (STL) through the triple-panel structure. SCs cause a bandgap centered around a certain frequency (Bragg’s frequency) due to generation of destructive interference. Initially, an analytical method is developed that extends the previous theory of double-panel structure to predict STL through a triple-panel structure. Finite element (FE) simulations are performed to obtain the STL through the triple-panel, which are validated with the analytical predictions. Various configurations are analyzed using the FE method based on the method of inserting the porous material and SCs between the panels to address the combined effect. STL through the triple-panel structure is compared with that through the double-panel structure having the same total weight and total thickness. It is found that the combined structure of the triple panel and the SC with glass wool as filler gives the best soundproof performance for the same external dimensions. For narrow air gaps, filing with glass wool is more advantageous than inserting one row of SC. In addition, the triple panel combined with a SC has better soundproofing than the two-panel counterparts.

Sound insulation of the finite double-panel structure (DPS) inserted with a cylindrical shell array is investigated by varying the sound incidence direction to improve its applicability. The effects of the vibro-acoustic characteristics of its constituents on the sound transmission loss (STL) are estimated in one-third octave bands from 20 Hz to 5 kHz for different incidence conditions. It shows that the first acoustic mode in the direction parallel to two panels (longitudinal modes) produces both the sudden variation of sound insulation with frequency and a large dependency on the incidence angle. Mineral wools are placed on two boundaries perpendicular to the panels, and the sound insulation is explored for different thicknesses of the porous materials. An absorbent layer with a certain thickness (more than 30 mm in our work) sufficiently eliminates the longitudinal mode, resulting in the improvement in the sound insulation by more than 15 dB and the decrease of its large variation with incidence direction. STLs with varying shell thicknesses are also assessed. It shows that the natural vibrations of the thin shells can give an enhancement in sound insulation by more than 10 dB in the frequency range of 1600–3700 Hz, corresponding to constructive interference.

In this paper, we present one approach to improve the soundproofing performance of the double-panel structure (DPS) in the entire audible frequencies, in which two kinds of local resonances, the breathing-type resonance and the Helmholtz resonance, are combined. The thin ring resonator row and slit-type resonator (Helmholtz resonator) row are inserted between two panels of DPS together. Overlapping of the band gaps due to the individual resonances gives a wide and high band gap of sound transmission in the low frequency range. At the same time, the Bragg-type band gap is created by the structural periodicity of the scatterers in the high audible frequency range. In addition, the number of scatterer rows and the filling factor are investigated with regard to the sound insulation of DPS with sonic crystals (SCs). Consequently, the hybrid SC has the potential of increasing the soundproofing performance of DPS in the audible frequency range above 1 kHz by about 15 dB on average compared to DPS filled only with glass wool between two panels, while decreasing the total thickness and mass compared to the counterparts with the other type of local resonant sonic crystal.

An approach is presented to form and broaden the low-frequency band gap of the double panel structure (DPS) by using a locally resonant sonic crystal (LRSC) in this work. The LRSC is made of cylindrical Helmholtz resonators arranged on square lattice. Their designs are similar to a slot-type resonator, but have different depths of slot. Elongating the slit neck inward and distributing the depths of slots produce a broad local resonant band gap at low frequencies: an average insertion loss (IL) of 10.9 dB covering 520 Hz to 1160 Hz with a LRSC of 12 cm width. Next, the effect of porous material filled into the resonators on the local resonant band gap is evaluated. It is shown that filling of porous material into the resonators decreases the height and width of the local resonant band gap. Finally, the transmission losses (TLs) through the DPS with LRSC are calculated as a function of the incident angle of the sound wave for LRSC embedded in porous material and not. The results show that the porous material can be significantly reduce the incident angle dependency of TL through the DPS with LRSC.