DTU and KAIST have joined forces to study the practical application of metamaterials, for example for soundproofing and noise control.
Two research groups from DTU and the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have in recent years been busy on their respective sides of the globe optimizing the design of acoustic elements.
The so-called metamaterials have shown very promising results, and the two universities will now start cooperating on how to make the most of them. Metamaterials are usually made of familiar materials, but are shaped into special 2D and 3D patterns, and in so doing acquire properties which cannot be achieved through ordinary design processes. For example, attenuating or improving acoustics.
The researchers at the two universities are world-leading within acoustics research, and by cooperating, they will seek to exploit the special structure and construction of the metamaterials for practical solutions within different fields of acoustics.
This could, for example, be new materials for sound insulation or noise control which are becoming increasingly sought-after. Among other things, greater urbanization means there is now more noise in our homes and cities, reducing quality of life and increasing the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Collaborating across the globe
Philip Binning, Dean of Graduate Studies and International Affairs at DTU, points out the necessity of collaborating across the globe:
“The new project expands our already fruitful collaboration with KAIST within both research and education. It is gratifying to see that this partnership can also contribute to helping the world’s best researchers within acoustics to jointly develop new practical solutions and materials for solving one of today’s big challenges – much more noise and vibrations in our daily lives. The aim of the cooperation is to find new solutions and methods which can be acquired and used by companies in the acoustics industry.”
At DTU, the forthcoming cooperation project will focus on developing metamaterials for application within four particular four areas. The first two involve the development of new building materials to ensure a higher degree of sound insulation in homes, and optimizing the design of loudspeakers, among other things through the choice of different materials and shapes. The second two projects are more technically oriented, and will, among other things, concentrate on the use of active systems and calculated losses through transferring solutions from small scale to large scale.
Specific solutions for companies
“Our goal and our vision is that, throughout the project, we acquire as much detailed knowledge as possible about how metamaterials can be used to advantage in the design of new products, so that companies in future will be able to apply the methods that we have developed in their own efforts to make, for example, building elements, vehicles or other equipment quieter. In this way, we can hopefully contribute to tackling the challenge of, for example, excessive noise in homes today,” says Finn Agerkvist, group leader at DTU Electrical Engineering and who is heading the cooperation project.
The project will run over the next four years, and covers a total of eight young researchers employed at DTU and KAIST. During the project, part of their research will take place during the exchange at the partner university in Denmark and Korea.