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Automotive OEMs have introduced a new development paradigm, modular architecture development, to improve diversity quality and production efficiency. It needs solid fundamentals of system-based performance evaluation and development for each system level and single component level. When it comes to NVH development, it is challenging to realize the modular concept because noise and vibration should be transferred through various transfer path consisting of many parts and systems, which interact with each other. It is challenging for a single system of interest to be evaluated independently of the adjacent parts and environments. In this study, a new system-based development process for a vehicle suspension was investigated by applying blocked force theory and FRF-based dynamic substructuring. The objective is to determine the better dynamic stiffness distribution of many bushes installed in a suspension system in the frequency range corresponding to road noise.

This article begins with a discussion of the general types of porous materials, i.e., rigid, limp, and elastic, and of their general physical properties. The macroscopic properties (e.g., flow resistivity, porosity, tortuosity, etc.) that control the acoustical behavior of each type of porous material are then defined and discussed, as are methods for their measurement. The acoustical characterization of a porous medium is considered next, followed by a discussion of modeling of porous materials with particular reference to elastic porous materials such as foams. The special character of elastic porous materials are illustrated through experimental and computational examples involving sound absorption and sound transmission. In particular, the importance of apparently small details of foam layer boundary conditions is emphasized. Finally, foam finite elements that are capable of predicting the behavior of finite-sized noise control treatments having realistic shapes are discussed.

Numerical simulations offer a wide range of benefits. Therefore, they are widely used in research and development. One of the biggest benefits is the possibility of automated parameter variation. This allows testing different scenarios very quickly. Nevertheless, physical experiments in the laboratory or on a test rig are still, and will remain, necessary. Physical experiments offer benefits, e.g., for very complex and/or nonlinear systems and are required for the validation of numerical models. To enhance the quality of experimental NVH investigations and to make use of the benefits of numerical simulation during experimental investigations at the same time, numerical models can be integrated into physical test rigs using the mechanical hardware-in-the-loop (mHIL) method (also referred to as real-time dynamic substructuring, hybrid testing or active control of impedance).

Reductions in powertrain noise have led to an increased proportion of road noise, prompting various studies aimed at mitigating it. Road excitation primarily traverses through the vehicle suspension system, necessitating careful optimization of the characteristics of bushings at connection points. However, optimizing at the vehicle assembly stage is both time-consuming and costly. Therefore, it is essential to proceed with optimization at the subsystem level using appropriate objective functions. In this study, the blocked force and energy-based index derived from complex power were used to optimize the NVH performance. Calculating the complex power in each bushing enables computing the power flow, thereby providing a basis for evaluating the NVH performance. Through stiffness injection, the frequency response functions (FRF) of the system can be predicted according to arbitrary changes in the bushing stiffness.

As the mobility being developed becomes more complex and numerous, it is becoming difficult and inefficient to apply current vehicle-test-based development. To overcome this, research on combining test and simulation models has been actively conducted to perform objective and subjective evaluations more accurately and efficiently in the advance stage without a vehicle over the years. At first, test models for various systems such as tire, suspension and body were made compatible with simulation models by using various methodologies such as blocked forces, FBS decoupling, and Virtual Point Transformation (VPT). The second step was to objectively estimate road noise by using FBS coupling with system models and to deeply analyze transfer paths and system’s sensitivity. The results were verified by comparing with what was measured and analyzed on vehicle.