Abstract:
An overview is presented of several methods available to determine the interior noise in a vehicle under given operating conditions. Issues covered include: how and when these methods can best be applied; the limitations imposed by the methods themselves; and some of the difficulties associated with modeling vehicle structures. Current modeling methods used in automotive noise problems include finite element, boundary element, statistical energy, and power flow methods. Each method has domains of applicability, but more specific to the automotive design process, they have different applicability at different stages in the design cycle. There are practical limitations, such as the lack of detail early in the design process which presents difficulties for deterministic methods at high frequencies. In contrast, later in the process when details are available, there may be the need for more specific answers to design trade-offs than statistical methods can give. Examples are given of some practical problems encountered in vehicle noise modeling, illustrating areas where improvements are still needed.