3D printed noise barrier blocks 94% of all sound passing through an open tube

The researchers have big ideas about how the material could work to make the real world quieter. Scientists say that it is possible to silence noise using an open, ring-like structure, created to mathematically perfect specifications, for cutting out sounds while maintaining airflow. It is possible to silence noise using an open, ring-like structure, created to mathematically perfect specifications, for cutting out sounds while maintaining airflow, scientists say. Although noise-mitigating barricades, called sound baffles, can help drown out the whoosh of rush hour traffic or contain the symphony of music within concert hall walls, they are a clunky approach not well suited to situations where airflow is also critical, said researchers from Boston University in the US. By comparing sound levels with and without the metamaterial fastened in place, the team found that they could silence nearly all — 94 per cent to be exact — of the noise, making the sounds emanating from the loudspeaker imperceptible to the human ear.