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The interior noise signature of passenger vehicles is a significant contributor to a customer's perception of quality. The vehicle acoustic package can be an important piece to the acoustic signature, and can be utilized not just to reduce the sound levels inside the vehicle but also to shape the sound such that it meets the expectations of the customer. For this reason the definition, design, and development of an acoustic package can be vital to meeting vehicle-level acoustic targets. In many situations this development is conducted experimentally, requiring the availability of prototype vehicles and acoustic package components. Of more value is the ability to develop components early in the design phase, leveraging analytical tools to define component-level requirements and targets to meet the vehicle-level targets, and ultimately meet the final customer expectations.

Powertrain NVH and Powertrain Sound Quality requirements are among the key attributes to meet when developing new engines or vehicles. Source-Path-Contribution (SPC) solutions are commonly used to support the vehicle design and development. They allow to quantify the relative contributions of the different excitation sources, whether airborne or structure-borne, and the transfer paths to the noise and vibration measured at the receiver locations. When performed in time domain, SPC analysis is also a very effective tool to evaluate interactively the powertrain Sound Quality and how it can be affected by design changes. In this paper, we present a joint project performed by B&K Global Engineering Services together with Subaru where the team leveraged SPC models for powertrain noise of existing vehicles to create a new virtual vehicle assembly when the powertrain from the first vehicle is installed in the body of the second vehicle.

An important factor contributing to a customer’s subjective perception of a vehicle, particularly at the point-of-purchase, is the sound created by the passenger doors during closure events. Although these sounds are very short in duration the key systems that control the sounds produced can be highly coupled. Similarly, the necessary efforts required to understand key design criteria affecting the sound can also be highly complex. Within this paper sub-systems affecting the door closure sound are evaluated to understand key structural properties and behaviors toward the contribution to the overall sound produced. This begins with the subjective preferences of typical sounds and the difficulties with both measuring and reproducing these sounds appropriately and leads directly to the target setting and target cascading process.