I feel like we are ways out from seeing anything like it. From what I’ve seen non-Newtonian fluids typically take a decent amount of energy to stop something and sound wouldn’t have much energy compared to something like a bullet.
On a sidenote does Decibullz own a patent on percussive hearing protection or am I looking up the wrong term? I feel like there must be other hearing protection out there that is effective against sudden loud sounds.
We already have computers that can determine which sounds to cancel out. That’s pretty cool.
Sound isn’t going to be like a bullet or an electrical storm hitting the grid. I don’t think you can just make a material that blocks out sound when it reaches a certain level and allow it below the threshold. Definitely an interesting theory but I am not sure how it would be designed.
Compression thickening/thinning, which only starts after a certain rate of change. I’m not sure what materials have such a property. Then, you’d incorporate it into a composite which dissipates sound selectively in one state. One idea is a fibers of a material that matches the impedance of the fluid during quiet periods, but scatters it as impedance shifts during high-energy periods.
Maybe you could use standard shear thickening somehow, but it would be a lot harder as sound only travels through air compressively.