Automotive Testing Requirements in the Design of a Reverberation Chamber 931290

The purpose of this paper is to identify various concerns that need to be evaluated prior to the design and construction of a reverberation chamber, such that the chamber can be used for various automotive related acoustical measurements. Some of the concerns involve issues such as room shape and size, the degree of sound and vibration isolation required, the use of conventional building materials versus traditional massive construction, construction cost, and the performance requirements for the test noise generation system. Various uses of a reverberation chamber include random incidence sound absorption measurements, small sample sound transmission loss measurements, vehicle insertion loss tests, dash panel, door, and other “buck” evaluation tests, and sound power level measurements of small automotive components and devices. These uses have differing and in some cases conflicting requirements that compete in the selection of room design parameters. The paper discusses these issues including the requirements for sound level generation in the chamber for proper measurements. The paper also provides case studies on the use of reverberation chambers for automotive applications.