Laser textured GFRP superhydrophobic surface as an underwater acoustic absorption metasurface

Abstract Underwater acoustic absorption metasurfaces (UAAMs), featured with artificial periodic unit cells as acoustic micro-absorbers, are crucial for the enhancement of the underwater stealth, energy transition, sonar detection, etc. How to implement the acoustic metasurfaces for practical engineering applications requires the support of efficient manufacturing techniques. Here we present a simple way of laser texturing for fabrication of the patterned superhydrophobic surface on glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP). Unlike the traditional acoustic absorbing material whose thickness should match the corresponding wavelength, the laser textured superhydrophobic micro-grooves have thickness less than the absorption sound wavelength by 2–3 orders of magnitude but promisingly demonstrate over 88% of the underwater incident acoustic power absorption from 50 kHz to 250 kHz. The physical mechanism of the UAAM ascribes to the multiple interface scattering effect induced by the air layer between water and superhydrophobic micro-nano structures.