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For the assessment of vehicle acoustics in the early design stages of a vehicle program, the use of full vehicle SEA models is becoming the standard analysis method in the US automotive industry. One benefit is that OEM's and Tier 1 suppliers are able to cascade lower level acoustic performance targets for NVH systems and components. Detailed SEA system level models can be used to assess the performance of systems such as dash panels, floors and doors, however, the results will be questionable until test data Is available. Correlation can be accomplished with buck testing, which is a common practice in the automotive industry for assessing the STL (sound transmission loss) of vehicle level components. The opportunity to conduct buck testing can be limited by the availability of representative bodies to be cut into bucks and the availability of a transmission loss suite with a suitably large opening.

Unweighted dB, dB(A), and Articulation Index do not always accurately identify the sound quality of vehicle interior noise. This paper attempts to determine the relevance of sound quality in interior automotive acoustics. Traditionally, overall dB(A) levels have been the driving factor, along with cost, in selecting an interior automotive acoustic package. In this paper, we make use of subjective jury evaluations to compare perceptions of various interior acoustic packages and compare these results to objective values. These values include, but are not restricted to, dB, dB(A), and Articulation Index. Considerations are made as to whether differences between packages can be perceived by customers. This paper also attempts to show that subjective evaluations can differ with the standard metrics used to select acoustic packages and describe why such evaluations might be important in acoustic package selection.

The application of Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) to vehicle development is discussed, with a new technique to implement noise path analysis within a SEA model to enable efficient solution and optimization of acoustic trim. A whole vehicle Performance-Based SEA model is used, in which Sound Transmission Loss (STL) and acoustic absorption coefficient characterize subsystem performance. In such a model, the net contribution from each body panel/path, such as the floor, to a specific interior subsystem, such as the driver's head space, is extremely important for vehicle interior noise development. First, it helps to identify the critical path to root-cause potential problems. Second, it is necessary in order to perform balancing of path contributions. With current software, the power based noise contribution analysis is for direct paths/adjacent subsystems.

Automobile manufacturers recently requested the help of the SAE Acoustical Materials Committee to develop standard data formats that could be used by suppliers to present data on NVH products. An SAE task force with representatives from material suppliers and from OEMs chose formats covering a broad range of acoustical tests commonly conducted in the automotive industry. These formats cover both material and vehicle tests. They include details on samples and test conditions and graphs with preferred axes and data ranges. SAE recommended practice J2629 will be issued that describes the use of these preferred formats for acoustical data. The automobile manufacturers have requested that all suppliers of NVH products use these formats to present results from this point onward.

As customer awareness of product sound grows, the need exists to ensure that product sound quality is maintained in the manufacturing process. To this end in-process controls that employ a variety of traditional acoustical and alternate sound quality metrics are utilized, usually partly or wholly housed in a test enclosure. Often times these test cells are required to attenuate the background noise in the manufacturing facility so that the device under test can be accurately assessed. While design guidelines exist the mere size and cost of such booths make an iterative build and test approach costly in terms of materials as well as engineering and testing time. In order to expedite the design process and minimize the number of confirmation prototypes, SEA can be utilized to predict the transmission loss based upon material selection and booth construction techniques.

Seat covers made from textiles, leather and vinyl were evaluated for noise absorption. The textiles included woven velours, pile knits and flat wovens. The noise absorption of the covers and the corresponding seat assemblies was tested by the reverberation room method per ASTM C423. The effect of different foams was also tested. For the leather and vinyl covers, the effect of perforation was evaluated. Test results showed distinctive differences between textiles and leather/vinyl with cloth seats having superior noise absorption. Even among the textiles, there are significant differences. Core foam densities affect the characteristics as well. For pile fabrics (woven velours and pile knits), the size of the pile fiber does not affect the acoustic characteristics of the seat. Also, no significant difference was observed between a bonded seat and a conventional (cut and sew) seat.

Composite multi-layered systems are of particular interest in the automotive industry since the design of the various components in an efficient sound package requires a good predictive model. The state of the art in this matter shows that the medium and high frequency ranges are well mastered in terms of predictive tools based on infinite models. But this is not the case for the lower frequency range. The paper will start with a discussion of the medium and high frequency range where, for example, the Transfer Matrix Method (TMM) is an efficient framework to predict the acoustical properties of multi-layer materials. Emphasis will be put on correlation data obtained with a variety of multi-layer systems. In the low frequency range the use of infinite models leads to significant discrepancies. In the present paper the authors propose a finite “hybrid type” formulation which combines the advantages of both single layer and multi-layer approaches of stratified composite structures.

Interior noise has become a significant performance attribute in modern passenger vehicles and this is extremely important in the luxury market segment where a quiet interior is the price of entry. With the elimination of early prototype vehicles to reduce development costs, high frequency analytical SEA models are used to design the vehicle sound package to meet targets for interior noise quality. This function is important before representative NVH prototypes are available, and later to support parameter variation investigations that would be cost prohibitive in a hardware test. This paper presents the application of an analytical full vehicle SEA model for the development of the acoustic package of a cross over luxury utility vehicle. The development concerns addressed were airborne powertrain noise and road noise. Power flow analysis was used to identify the major noise paths to the interior of the vehicle.

Perforating certain layers of laminated material can improve the sound absorption performance of the material. The hole size, shape, angle, spacing and pattern can be tuned to improve sound absorption in a certain frequency range using a validated acoustical model. The model is based on a numerical calculation of acoustical properties of porous multi-layers using a transfer matrix method in the context of the Biot theory in NOVA software. An additional calculation of airflow resistivity and porosity from the hole size and hole spacing is also conducted. The model predictions agree with the testing data. Based on this model, the acoustical performance of the material can be optimized to meet vehicle acoustical requirements. The vehicle level SEA models are used to examine the effects of the perforation on the vehicle interior acoustics.