Design and optimization of acoustic reflector for uniform diffusion

Sound diffusion performance is considered as an important issue in building acoustics. A well-diffused sound field can effectively enhance the human listening experience. To this end, we have investigated several optimization strategies to design a sub-wavelength acoustic metasurface that can achieve broadband uniform diffuse reflections. These designs are based on Fresnel lens surface, groove-like structure, level-set method, topology optimization approach, respectively. Meanwhile, a strategy combining Monte-Carlo searches and other derivative-free algorithms has been analyzed and used to ensure, as far as possible, a global optimum for the objective function when dealing with the multi-peak problem encountered in complex sound fields. Numerical simulations show that the resulting metasurfaces with the best diffusion performance have similar configurations between different design methods. The simulated sound pressure field was also verified by experimental measurements. From a general perspective, the proposed optimization strategy and simulation framework can provide a greater degree of freedom for geometric configuration and benefit the design of interior components in building acoustics.