Case Study: Duke University achieves 3D acoustic cloaking breakthroughs with COMSOL Multiphysics

Duke University builds the world’s first 3D acoustic cloak with Comsol

Duke University researchers, part of a US Office of Naval Research program, faced the challenge of designing and fabricating novel acoustic metamaterials to manipulate sound waves in arbitrary ways, including creating a 3D acoustic cloaking device. Their work required sophisticated mathematical modeling to handle highly anisotropic material properties and to transition their designs from air to a much more challenging water-based environment. They used COMSOL Multiphysics® software as their primary design and simulation tool to derive the necessary material parameters and test their performance.

The solution implemented with Comsol allowed the team to easily manipulate the underlying physics equations and material properties, which was critical for simulating the anisotropic designs central to transformation acoustics. The results were highly successful; simulations performed with Comsol matched experimental measurements "astonishingly well," leading to the creation of the world's first 3D acoustic cloak. This agreement between simulation and reality was so precise that it even helped the team identify a fabrication error in an earlier project, confirming the software's critical role in efficiently transitioning their proof-of-concept ideas into practical, deployable metamaterial structures.

Duke University