viaMeta

Since mid-2021, Novicos has been involved as an SME in the viaMeta research project, which has since been completed. Together with other project partners, research was carried out in the field of vibro-acoustic metamaterials in order to exploit lightweight construction potential for vehicle development.

Compatibility of lightweight construction and acoustics

Particularly in lightweight construction, the known measures for damping noise and vibrations conflict with the desired energy efficiency. In addition, noise, vibrations and shocks significantly restrict passenger comfort and are also critical in some cases in terms of operational stability. Vibro-acoustic metamaterials would offer a possible solution here. Unfortunately, computer-aided development methods and scalable, economical and quality-assured production processes are still lacking. The viaMeta project focuses on the question of how metamaterials themselves, as well as the development and validation methodology and associated production processes, can be technologically developed to application maturity.

Calculating new materials

Novicos contributed in particular with expertise in the field of physical modeling methods. Based on previously developed structural descriptions, the structures of the components were first modeled and simulated using conventional methods (FEM and MBS). In addition, innovative methods were developed to predict the behavior of the metamaterials. A comparison of the different methods showed which was best suited for modeling metamaterials.