My favorite topic has returned: ways to block out sounds. In the past, I’ve written about an acoustic meta-material, acoustic isolator, sound screws, and a sound removing beam among other ideas designed to provide us with sweet silence. And now we can add one more to the list: sound blocking silk that can be woven into a noise cancelling fabric! A design feature that could enable it to get woven into the fabric of everyday life.
Interesting Engineering explains:
“Inspired by the technology behind noise-canceling headphones, researchers tapped into the fabric’s vibrations to create a symphony of silence.
By emitting sound waves that interfere with unwanted noise, akin to a musical duet where one cancels out the other, this technique promises to silence disturbances in small spaces like rooms or cars.
Using common materials like silk, canvas, and muslin, the researchers created noise-suppressing fabrics which would be practical to implement in real-world spaces.
For example, one could use such a fabric to make dividers in open workspaces or thin fabric walls that prevent sound from getting through.
‘In a world where noise seems to drown out tranquility, our goal was to create silence, a commodity even more precious than gold,’ said Grace Yang, lead author of the study. ‘By harnessing the power of fabric vibrations, we’ve unlocked a new realm of possibilities for creating quiet spaces.’
The researchers also found something else. They realized that keeping the fabric still could also help stop sound from traveling. The fabric becomes a strong protector, stopping noise from getting through walls or dividers.
In a surprising turn of events, the researchers discovered that when the fabric is quiet, it can bounce back sound just like a mirror bounces back light.
Their experiments also revealed that both the mechanical properties of a fabric and the size of its pores affect the efficiency of sound generation. While silk and muslin have similar mechanical properties, the smaller pore sizes of silk make it a better fabric loudspeaker.
When they tested the silk fabric in direct suppression mode, the researchers found that it could significantly reduce the volume of sounds up to 65 decibels (about as loud as enthusiastic human conversation).
In vibration-mediated suppression mode, the fabric could reduce sound transmission up to 75 percent.”
Currently at war with several of my neighbors and their annoying kids I personally can’t wait for noise cancelling fabric to come to an office space or home near me.
Is sound suppressing silk the Greatest Idea Ever?
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