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Due to constant evolution in both noise regulations and noise comfort standards, noise reduction inside the vehicle remains one of the main issues faced today by the automotive industry. One of the most efficient methods for noise reduction is the introduction of acoustic treatments, made of multilayered trimmed panels. Constraints on these components, such as weight, packaging space and overall sound quality as well as the amount of possible material and geometrical combinations, have led automotive OEMs to use innovative methods, such as numerical acoustic simulation, so as to evaluate noise transmission in a fast and cost-effective way. While the computational cost for performing such analyses is insignificant for a limited number of configurations, the evaluation of multiple design parameter combinations early in the design stage can lead to non-viable computation times in an industrial context.

Combustion stability is a key contributor to engine shake at idle speed and can impact the overall perception of vehicle quality. The sub-firing harmonics of the combustion torque are used as a metric to assess idle shake and are, typically, measured at different levels of engine break mean effective pressure (BMEP). Due to the nature of the combustion phenomena at idle, it is clear that predicting the cycle-to-cycle and cylinder-to-cylinder combustion pressure variations, required to assess the combustion uniformity, cannot be achieved with the state of the art simulation technology. Inspired by the advancement in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence and by the availability of a large amount of measured combustion test data, this paper explores the performance of various machine learning algorithms in predicting the idle combustion uniformity.

Variable Displacement Oil Pump (VDOP) is becoming the design of choice for engine friction reduction and fuel economy improvement. Unfortunately, this pump creates excessive pressure ripples, at the outlet port during oil pump shaft rotation, causing oscillating forces within the lubrication system and leading to the generation of objectionable tonal noises and vibrations. In order to minimize the level of noise, different vanes spacing and porting geometries are used. Moreover, an oil pressure relief groove can be added, at the onset of the high pressure port, to achieve this goal. This paper presents an optimization method to identify the best geometry of the oil pressure relief groove. This method integrates adaptive meshing, 3D CFD simulation, Matlab routine and Genetic Algorithm based optimization. The genetic algorithm is used to create the required design space in order to perform a multi-objective optimization using a large number of parameterized groove geometries.

Weight is a major factor during the development of Automotive Powertrains due to stringent fuel economy requirements. Light weighting constitutes a challenge to the engineering community when trying to deliver quieter powertrains. For this reason, the NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness) CAE engineers are adopting advanced vibro-acoustic simulation methods combined with topology optimization methods to drive the design of the under hood components for Noise Vibration and Harshness. Vibro-acoustic computational methods can be complex and require significant computation effort. Computation of Equivalent Radiated Power (referred to as ERP) is a simplified method to assess maximum dynamic radiation of components for specific excitations in frequency response analysis which in turn affects radiated sound. Topology Optimization is a mathematical technique used to find the best material distribution for structural systems in order to deliver a specific objective under clearly defined constraints.

In this paper, a CAE methodology based on a multiphysics approach for engine gear noise evaluation is reviewed. The method comprises the results and outputs from several different analytical domains to perform the noise risk assessment. The assessment includes the source-path analysis of the gear-induced rattling and whining noise. The vibration data from the exterior surface of the engine is extended through acoustic analysis to perform the engine noise simulation and to identify acoustic hot spots contributing to the noise. The study includes simulations under different engine loading conditions with results presented in both time and frequency domains. Various sensitivity analyses involving different gear geometries and micro-geometries are investigated as well. Finally, the simulation results from three different engines are compared vis-a-vis.

Exhaust systems can be a source of vibrations that transmit inside the vehicle through the exhaust hangers. These vibrations are caused by engine excitations under acceleration. During the upfront development stage, it is important to predict accurately the forces of the exhaust hangers in order to drive a robust exhaust system design and prevent objectionable noise and vibrations inside the vehicle. This paper describes an FEA-based simulation method to predict the exhaust hanger forces. It demonstrates the effect of temperature on the exhaust dynamic behavior and its importance for an accurate prediction of the exhaust hanger forces.

EcoBoost engines constitute one of the strategies used by Ford Motor Company to deliver engines with improved fuel economy and performance. However, turbochargers exhibit many inherent NVH challenges that need to be addressed in order to deliver refined engines that meet customer’s expectation. One of these challenges is the turbocharger 1st order synchronous noise due to the interaction between the manufacturing tolerances of the rotating components and the dynamic behavior of the rotor. This paper discusses an MBD/FEA/BEM based method to predict the nonlinear dynamic behavior of the rotor semi floating bearing, its impact on the bearing loads and the resulting powerplant noise due to the interaction with the turbocharger imbalance level.

In modern automotive engines, Variable Displacement Oil Pump (VDOP) is becoming the pump of choice to enable reduction in friction and delivery of stringent fuel economy. However, this pump creates pressure ripples, at the outlet port during oil pump shaft rotation, causing oscillating forces within the system and leading to the generation of tonal noises and vibrations. In order to minimize the level of noise, different porting geometries and vane spacing are used. This paper describes an optimization method intended to identify the best possible spacing of the vanes in the conventional 7-vanes, 9-vanes and 11-vanes oil pumps. The method integrates a Matlab routine with the modeFRONTIER software to create the required design space in order to perform a multi-objective optimization using a genetic algorithm. Results of this optimization method are discussed and a design guideline for the VDOP vane spacing is disclosed.

In this presentation, two cases of CAE simulations of oil pump-induced tonal noises are presented. The first case involves oil pump-induced whine in an I4engine during coast down. The second case addresses oil pan moan during hot idle and the effect of oil pump pick-up tube positioning inside the oil pan of an I5 engine. The investigations include several design modifications to the pump and the pick-up tube to prevent the tonal noise. Test data are also included to demonstrate the accuracy of the CAE simulation.

A new turbocharged 60° 2.7L 4V-V6 gasoline engine has been developed by Ford Motor Company for both pickup trucks and car applications. This engine was code named “Nano” due to its compact size; it features a 4-valves DOHC valvetrain, a CGI cylinder block, an Aluminum ladder, an integrated exhaust manifold and twin turbochargers. The goal of this engine is to deliver 120HP/L, ULEV70 emission, fuel efficiency improvements and leadership level NVH. This paper describes the upfront design and optimization process used for the NVH development of this engine. It showcases the use of analytical tools used to define the critical design features and discusses the NVH performance relative to competitive benchmarks.

A CAE method has been developed to address engine tonal noise and whine due to the excitation from a gerotor oil pump. The method involves a multidisciplinary approach including CFD, frequency-response structural analysis and acoustic analysis. The results from the application of the method applied to a couple of pumps with different designs are discussed. Engine tonal noise improvement through reduction in the excitation source from the pump and also stiffening the excitation path from the pump to the engine are studied. The effect of component modal alignment with oil pump orders is addressed as well.

The advent of Eco-Boost technology in gasoline engines creates new challenges that need to be addressed with innovative designs. One of them is flow induced noise caused by flow, entering the turbocharger, at off design operation. At certain vehicle operation conditions, the mass flow rate and pressure ratio are such that compressor wheel generates a broad band frequency noise caused by flow separation from blade surfaces, which is called ‘whoosh’ noise. Flow bench and engine testing can be used to detect flow induced noise, but understanding the fundamental mechanisms of such noise generation is necessary for developing an effective design. This paper describes Computational Aero-Acoustic (CAA) analyses performed to study the effects of inlet condition on the whoosh noise. A 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation performed including the entire compressor wheel and volute. The wheel consisted of six main and six splitter blades.

The increased demand to reduce cost and weight is forcing engine manufacturers to replace some metal under hood components with high performance polymers. The use of these materials has often been avoided in this type of applications due to concerns around their long-term strength and temperature performance. In particular, the materials of choice for the oil pans in the gasoline engines, at the present time, are aluminum and stamped steel. This paper presents a case study to evaluate the NVH performance of a plastic oil pan designed to replace a stamped steel pan in a gasoline engine. Emphasis is given to the design features and material characteristics that were considered to achieve the required NVH performance.

Generally within engineering design, the current emphasis is on biasing the development process towards increased virtual prototyping and reduced “real” prototyping. Therefore there is a requirement for more CAE based automated optimisation, Design of Experiments and Design for Six Sigma. The main requirements for these processes are that the model being analysed is parametric and that the solution time is short. Prediction of gear whine behaviour in automatic transmissions is a particularly complex problem where the conventional FEA approach precludes the rapid assessment of “what if?” scenarios due to the slow model building and solution times. This paper will present an alternative approach, which is a fully parametric functionality-based model, including the effects of and interactions between all components in the transmission. In particular the time-varying load sharing and misalignment in the planetary gears will be analysed in detail.

The need for engine system CAE radiated noise analysis to confirm results obtained from “component - only” analysis are expensive and time consuming. This is because engine system analysis requires finite element modeling of most engine components (large modeling time) and extensive CPU time and cost to run the full FE system model. The objective of this paper is to introduce a new CAE methodology that makes use of “component - only” analysis to predict the NVH systems effect of the engine block and head, without the need of analyzing the full engine system model. This new CAE methodology evaluates the bolted joint accelerations at the engine block and head flange connections to the: front cover; cam covers; oil pan; intake; exhausts; and transmission. This new method is called BAC (Bolt Accelerations Computation). BAC, in conjunction with SVL (Surface Velocity Level) acoustic response, has been used to optimize the Ford 5.4L cylinder block and cylinder heads for NVH.

This paper presents the numerical modeling of noise radiated by an engine, using the so-called Acoustic Transfer Vectors and Modal Acoustic Transfer Vectors concept. Acoustic Transfer Vectors are input-output relations between the normal structural velocity of the radiating surface and the sound pressure level at a specific field point and can thus be interpreted as an ensemble of Acoustic Transfer Functions from the surface nodes to a single field point or microphone position. The modal counter part establishes the same acoustic transfer expressed in modal coordinates of the radiating structure. The method is used to evaluate the noise radiated during an engine run-up in the frequency domain. The dynamics of the engine is described using a finite element model loaded with a rpm-dependent excitation. The effectiveness of the method in terms of calculation speed, compared with classical boundary element methods, is illustrated.