Lattice structures with acoustic black holes and resonators for vibration attenuation

Abstract

High-precision equipment operating under increasingly extreme conditions present significant challenges to vibration attenuation technologies. A vibration-damping lattice structure is a lightweight periodic or quasi-periodic framework that attenuates vibrations through tailored cellular geometry, material and energy dissipation or resonance mechanisms. Locally resonant structures and acoustic black hole (ABH) structures are efficient for dissipation of vibration waves by local resonance effects and wave gathering or suppression, respectively.
This study proposes a novel lattice with a two-dimensional ABH structure and local resonators, in which the waves captured by the ABH are directly coupled into the resonators, thereby greatly enhancing the damping and enabling more efficient dissipation of vibrations. Both Finite element analysis and experiments validation were conducted for the dispersion relation diagrams and vibration bandgap. The results demonstrate that the proposed structure can effectively suppress vibrations within a mid-low frequency range of 900 Hz to 1800Hz. Comparative analysis between a lattice without ABH and that with ABH confirms the crucial role of the ABH in capturing waves and enhancing the vibration attenuation. Load-bearing experiments show that the proposed structure can bear a maximum force of about 4.1 kN. Furthermore, a comprehensive parametric study was conducted to investigate the influence of key geometric and structural parameters (local resonator mass, structural stiffness, acoustic black hole thickness, and outer frame mass), which not only quantified their impact on performance but also further validated the programmability of the design concept. Compared with existing studies, the main contribution of this research is to explore the vibration attenuation effect of the synergistic action of ABH structures and locally resonant structures, providing ideas for the design of new vibration attenuation metamaterials. Overall, the findings highlight that the integration of a two-dimensional ABH and local resonator into lattice structures can substantially improve vibration attenuation efficiency, thereby achieving the dual objectives of lightweight design and high-performance vibration control.

Date of Award	15 Jul 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Nottingham
Supervisor	Yi Nie (Supervisor) & Yinfeng He (Supervisor)