Gasgoo News According to foreign media reports, Nissan has prepared a lightweight acoustic solution for its 2022 model.

(Image source: sae)

Acoustic engineers have a variety of materials to choose from to reduce noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) in cars. However, their choice often brings a quantifiable drawback-increased weight. During the development process, a new car can easily add 100 pounds (45kg) or more because of the use of absorbers, reflective and sound-absorbing barriers, such as overlays, injected foams, etc. And soundproof glass, etc.

In the era of emphasis on lightweight, materials researchers are looking forward to new developments in order to win the NVH-weight battle. The so-called metamaterials offer great prospects because of their lower cost compared with traditional NVH solutions.

The metamaterial medium is an artificial macroscopic composite material with a three-dimensional honeycomb structure. Because of the local interaction between the unit components, it can provide excellent performance in suppressing or redirecting unwanted sound waves.

Since 2008, Nissan has been extensively researching metamaterials. At the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nissan demonstrated this metamaterial for the first time and said it will use this material to reduce NVH in the new 2022 Ariya luxury electric vehicle.

Susumu Miura, a senior materials engineer at Nissan, said that the sound insulation effect of this metamaterial can reach four times that of traditional solutions. As a simple mesh structure wrapped in a plastic film, this material can reduce 500-1200Hz broadband noise, which usually comes from the road or the transmission system. The video shows that this metamaterial can reduce the background noise in the cockpit from 70dB to less than 60dB. The company claims that compared with existing NVH mitigation programs, the cost of this material is lower, or at least the same level. Nissan has not disclosed its supplier of metamaterials.