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Traditionally, door seals are designed to achieve good wind noise performance, water leakage and door closing effort in a vehicle design and development process. However, very little is known concerning the effect of door seal design on vehicle squeak and rattle performance. An earlier research work at Ford indicates a strong correlation between the diagonal distortions of body closure openings (in a low frequency range 0 - 50 Hz) and overall squeak and rattle performance. Another research at Ford reveals that relative accelerations between door latch and striker in a low frequency region (0 - 50 Hz) correlate well with door chucking performance. The findings of this research work enable engineers to assess squeak and rattle and door chucking performance using vehicle low frequency NVH CAE models at a very early design stage.

Squeak and rattle is one of the major concerns in vehicle design for customer satisfaction. Traditionally, squeak and rattle problems are found and fixed at a very late design stage due to lack of up-front CAE prevention and prediction tools. An earlier research work conducted at Ford reveals a correlation between the vehicle overall squeak and rattle performance and the diagonal distortions of body closure openings under a static torsional load. This finding makes it possible to assess squeak and rattle performance implications between different body designs using body-in-prime (B-I-P) and vehicle low frequency noise vibration and harshness (NVH) CAE models at a very early design stage. This paper presents an application of this squeak and rattle assessment method for a design feasibility study concerning a cab structure of a super duty truck for weight reduction using high strength steel and adhesive bonding.

Squeak and rattle is one of the major concerns in vehicle design for customer satisfaction. Traditionally squeak and rattle problems are found and fixed at a very late design stage due to lack of up-front CAE prevention and prediction tools. A research work at Ford reveals a correlation between the squeak and rattle performance and diagonal distortions at body closure openings and fastener accelerations in an instrument panel. These findings make it possible to assess squeak and rattle performance implications between different body designs using body-in-prime (B-I-P) and vehicle low frequency noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) CAE models at a very early design stage. This paper is concerned with applications of this squeak and rattle assessment method for up-front body designs prior to a prototype stage.

High mileage NVH performance is one of the major concerns in vehicle design for long term customer satisfaction. Elastomeric components such as suspension bushings function as vibration isolators in a vehicle. High mileage driving tends to cause the degradation of these components which in turn results in the degradation of vehicle overall NVH performance. The present paper presents the application of CAE based robustness methodology to vehicle high mileage degradation with respect to bushing degradation. A unitized vehicle with suspension strut mounts is selected as the project vehicle. Strut mount degradation characteristics, vehicle CAE model and design of experiment are linked together to achieve vehicle response robustness. The concept and methodology arc demonstrated using a tire input which simulates road excitations as a first step toward the development of a more extensive robustness methodology which will cover other excitation conditions.

High mileage NVH performance is one of the major concerns in vehicle design for long term customer satisfaction. Elastomeric components such as suspension bushings, engine mounts and tires function as vibration isolators in a vehicle. High mileage tends to cause the degradation of these components which in turn affects vehicle overall NVH performance. The present paper discusses the characteristics of bushing degradation based on laboratory bushing test data. Vehicle subjective evaluation and CAE modeling methods are used to develop a fundamental understanding of the effects of bushing degradation on vehicle NVH performance. The concept and analysis methodology are demonstrated using the front and rear suspension strut mounts and tire inputs which simulate road excitations but they are valid for other elastomeric components such as engine mounts and excitations. The knowledge derived in the study can be used as a generic guideline in designing vehicles for high mileage NVH robustness.

High mileage NVH performance is one of the major concerns in vehicle design for long term customer satisfaction. The current paper is concerned with performance analysis of high mileage vehicles which cover four automobile manufacturers and five vehicle families of the same weight class based on subjective evaluation data. The analysis includes the assessment of five vehicle families from the following aspects: overall and NVH performances, performance by individual attribute, degradation history of each vehicle family, performance variation within each vehicle family. Since the data are statistical in nature, statistical methods are employed, numerically and graphically, in the analysis. The performance categories which exhibit most degradation are identified. The analysis method presented in this paper is applicable to any high mileage vehicle fleet subjective data. The knowledge derived in the study can be used as a guideline in designing vehicles for high mileage NVH robustness.

Liftgate chucking is one of the major squeak and rattle concerns for vehicles with a large body closure opening in the liftgate area. High frequency chucking noise is generated as a result of the contact between the latch and striker of a liftgate. Traditionally, liftgate chucking problems (if present) are found and fixed by using a more robust latch/striker mechanism at a very late design stage that normally results in cost penalties for vehicle programs. Significant effort has been made at Ford in identifying and clarifying up-front drivers or body performance metrics that predominantly influence downstream squeak and rattle sensitivity. Two key body performance metrics (diagonal distortions at the liftgate opening and relative displacement between the latch and striker of a liftgate) are found to affect liftgate chucking sensitivity. The effects of body joint designs on liftgate chucking performance are discussed using these metrics in CAE analyses.

Since road roughness is an important source of vehicle vibration, a system model for NVH analysis requires a tire model which accurately predicts spindle response to road input. Most tire models currently used in the auto industry do not meet this requirement, because they are based on static stiffness of the tire and do not produce realistic response to input at the patch. This paper investigates a new modal tire model with patch input capability as a component within a vehicle system model. Comparisons are also presented between the behavior of the new tire model and a conventional spring model. To validate the performance of the tire model for NVH analysis, simulated vehicle responses to bump input are compared to chassis roll test results. Good correlation between the model prediction and the chassis roll measurements is observed.