Membrane-Type Acoustic Metamaterial with Negative Dynamic Mass

We present the experimental realization and theoretical understanding of a membrane-type acoustic metamaterial with very simple construct, capable of breaking the mass density law of sound attenuation in the 100-1000 Hz regime by a significant margin ( approximately 200 times). Owing to the membrane's weak elastic moduli, there can be low-frequency oscillation patterns even in a small elastic film with fixed boundaries defined by a rigid grid. The vibrational eigenfrequencies can be tuned by placing a small mass at the center of the membrane sample. Near-total reflection is achieved at a frequency between two eigenmodes where the in-plane average of normal displacement is zero. By using finite element…