Lightweight cellular multifunctional metamaterials with superior low-frequency sound absorption, broadband energy harvesting and high load-bearing capacity

Multifunctional materials are highly desired for the design of compact engineering structures, such as aircraft where weight reduction, sound absorption, load carrying, and energy harvesting are key considerations. However, design challenge remains in the balance of multiple functionalities. Here, we combine the sandwich structure with the neck-embedded cavities to design a cellular metamaterial having sound-absorption, compression/impact resistance and energy harvesting functionalities. For sound absorption, an autoencoder-like neural network is constructed to generate an instant design, after which a probabilistic module is inserted to optimize it by searching solutions in a slightly expanded design space. This inverse design has been experimentally validated, showing broadband sound absorption from 400 to 650 Hz merely with nine ultra-thin resonators. Beyond serving as absorber, the resonant cavities, once installed with well-tuned piezoelectric membranes, can gather broadband acoustic energy at low frequencies. Additionally, the cellular metamaterial inherits the excellent mechanical properties of honeycomb cores, having a low density of 0.64 g/cm3 yet displaying a high yield strength (21.2 MPa) in out-of-plane compression test and a superior energy absorption capability (8.6 J/cm3) in low-velocity impact tests. This work presents an effective approach to design lightweight metamaterials of superior mechanical and acoustic functionalities highly sought-after in practical engineering.