Acoustic Module Curved Thin-Walled Shell Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing acoustic modules face challenges in achieving good acoustic properties while being economically produced, variable in application, and balancing factors like weight, transparency, and design options.
Innovation Solution
An acoustic module utilizing thin-walled, flexible materials that assume a curved shape under bending stress, with prestressing to enhance sound absorption and stability, and featuring structuring and micro-perforations for adjustable acoustic behavior, allowing for lightweight and transparent designs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional acoustic materials (fiber and foam) are used, then good acoustic properties are achieved, but weight increases and transparency is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses thin-walled flexible material shells instead of traditional heavy acoustic materials like fiber and foam. The hollow body structure with thin walls provides acoustic functionality while maintaining light weight and transparency, directly resolving the contradiction between acoustic performance and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates structuring and micro-perforations in the thin-walled material to create porous structures that enable sound absorption and acoustic treatment. This allows the thin shell to achieve acoustic properties traditionally requiring dense materials, thus reducing weight while maintaining acoustic effectiveness.
2Weight of moving object
If thin-walled flexible material is used, then weight is reduced and transparency is improved, but structural stability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs curved surface structures formed by bending the thin-walled flexible material into hollow bodies. The curvature provides structural rigidity and stability to the thin walls, preventing collapse while maintaining light weight and transparency. The curved geometry distributes stresses effectively throughout the structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies prestressing to the thin-walled material before final assembly, pre-positioning it in a curved configuration. This preliminary action creates internal stresses that enhance structural stability and prevent deformation under load, allowing the use of thinner materials without sacrificing stability.
3Ease of manufacture
If flat structures are used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but acoustic effectiveness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms flat structures into curved hollow bodies through bending the thin-walled material. This curvature creation enhances acoustic effectiveness by providing volume for sound absorption and creating resonant cavities, while still starting from easily manufactured flat sheets that can be formed into various curved configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the material from flat to curved configurations, creating three-dimensional hollow structures. This parameter change from two-dimensional to three-dimensional form significantly improves acoustic effectiveness while maintaining ease of manufacture through forming processes.
4Stability of the object's composition
If material thickness is increased, then structural stability is improved, but transparency and design options are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses curved surface structures formed from thin-walled material to achieve structural stability without increasing thickness. The curvature provides rigidity and load distribution, allowing thin transparent walls to maintain stability while preserving transparency and design flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs thin-walled flexible material with specific structural characteristics that combine transparency with adequate strength. The material composition and curved geometry work together to provide structural stability without requiring thick opaque layers, maintaining both transparency and stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution achieves improved acoustic effectiveness with reduced material usage, variable design options, and the ability to absorb sound across multiple frequency ranges, while maintaining structural stability and transparency.
Implementation Method 1
thin-walled, flexible material which is characterized in that it assumes a curved shape when subjected to bending stress and returns to its original shape when the stress is removed
Implementation Method 2
the bent section under tension is made to vibrate when sound is applied, whereby better sound absorption is achieved
Implementation Method 3
Acoustic modules influence or reduce sound reflections and/or sound transmissions between areas in a room and in particular bring about sound absorption, sound scattering and/or sound shielding
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an acoustic module for influencing, particularly reducing, sound reflections and/or sound transmissions in a space. The module is constructed as a three-dimensional hollow body, comprising at least one sheet material made of thin-walled flexurally elastic material, which is placed under bending stress by at least one additional sheet material so as to form a cavity, in such a manner that said thin-walled flexurally elastic material assumes a curved shape. The module is characterised by particularly good acoustic properties and can be produced economically.