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An investigation of the effects of changes to the interlayer material in a windshield is described. While the program covered a broad range of measurements to assess the performance different interlayer materials, this paper will focus on the development of a raindrop test that could accurately simulate noise performance in a rainstorm. For the purpose of this test a unique device was developed to simulate rainfall. This test apparatus is described. When using this device, the resulting interior noise was found to be quite similar to that experienced in the natural environment. The difference between interlayers was found to be significant using this rain drop tester. Both objective and subjective measures showed differences that were in some cases easily detectable by the average listener.

There is a growing emphasis on the transfer of testing from the proving ground to the laboratory. The rapid evolution of test technology has been a key to making such transfers possible. This paper presents a description of the methods, including the critical data acquisition and the control parameter generation processes, developed to efficiently perform the move from the proving ground to the laboratory. Software tools are described that permit the user to collect vehicle control and response inputs on the road and convert these to test system control parameters. The process of collecting data is shown to be straight forward with a great deal of flexibility in terms of the type and number of channels to be collected. The conversion of these data to control parameters is described with examples. Parameters included in these studies include speeds, loads, vehicle inclination, accelerations, temperatures, torques, pedal positions, pedal force, time and distance.