Metamaterial sound absorbers based on microperforated panels: an approach toward enhanced flexibility and near-limit broadband performance

Abstract

Traditional microperforated panels (MPPs) and metamaterial-based sound absorbers rely on local resonances or multi-resonator designs, which limit their bandwidth, angular applicability, and ease of fabrication. Leveraging the reciprocity theorem and cavity resonances, we introduce a new class of robust MPP absorbers, termed meta-MPPs, capable of achieving ultrabroadband near-total sound absorption across a range of 0.37 to 10 kHz. These absorbers demonstrate average performance exceeding that of traditional MPPs by over 100%, approaching the theoretical causality limit. Notably, their absorption performance can be tuned between angularly asymmetric and omnidirectional modes and remains highly robust to variations in MPP parameters and geometrical configurations. Validated through simulations and experiments, our findings present a simpler, more robust, and highly adaptable solution for noise control.