Comparing Interior Cabin SPL Suppression Performance Based on Vying Flat Sample Data and Requirements 2019-01-1543

Since the vehicle development time becomes shorter and shorter every year in automobile industry, it is becoming more important for automotive engineers to be able to analyze each part going into a vehicle in early stage of development. Noise and Vibration (NV) engineers are often required to evaluate the performance of sound proof materials and quickly choose which one should be used in a vehicle being developed in the early stage. In a typical automobile development, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and trim suppliers often communicate via flat sample performance, Insertion Loss and Absorption Coefficient, to decide which parts should be used for a vehicle. Flat sample data is valuable, since it shows the inherit characteristics of the layered product but should not be used as the only metric to decide which product goes into the automobile. The final metric for NV performance should be the Sound Pressure Level (SPL) suppression performance. This paper will introduce a process and tools that enable NV engineers to quickly compare the SPL suppression performance of products and to determine which product is the most suitable for a specific vehicle being analyzed. An application will be presented in this paper to demonstrate the usefulness of this process. It will highlight the confusion created in trying to make decisions solely based on flat sample data, and it will show that it is possible to make a fair comparison based on sound suppression performance with the introduced process along with Hybrid Statistical Energy Analysis model. This is a valuable process for OEMs and suppliers since it gives them the ability to choose which is the best material from the stock, and additionally it gives suppliers the ability to show their OEM clients how their product can outperform their competitors’. This capability allows OEMs and trim suppliers to perform early continuous verification thus enhancing their early vehicle development process.