What is NVH ?

Noise :
Vibration perceived audibly and characterized as sensations of
pressure by the ear.
Vibration :
Perceived tactually (at vehicle occupant interface points of
steering column, seats, etc.
Harshness :
Related to transient nature of vibration and noise associated with
abrupt transition in vehicle motion. It could be perceived both
tactually and audibly

* Together, they define the measure of vehicle NVH Quality

Basic Concepts
Vibration sources are characterized by their time and frequency
domain characteristics
All mass-elastic systems have natural frequencies.
For linear system these frequencies are constant (related only
to the mass and stiffness distribution)
Non-linear effects require special treatments.
For one frequency, a system vibrates in a particular way, depicted
by the relative amplitude and phase at various locations modes of
vibration

Why vibration analysis ?

Lightly damped structures can produce high levels of vibration
from low level sources if frequency components in the disturbance
are close to one of the systems natural frequencies.
This means that well designed and manufactured sub-systems,
which produce low level disturbing forces, can still create problems
when assembled on a vehicle.
In order to avoid these problems, at the design stage it is
necessary to model the system accurately and analyze its response
to anticipated disturbances

Approach to vibration analysis :

Develop a mathematical model of the system and formulate the
equations of motion
Analyze the free vibration characteristics (natural frequencies
and modes)
Analyze the forced vibration response to prescribed disturbances
and
Investigate methods for controlling undesirable vibration levels if
they arise

Vibration Control
Control at source
Engine firing and reciprocating unbalance combine to produce a
complex source of vibration which varies with engine operating
conditions
Reciprocating unbalance arises at each cylinder because of the
fluctuating inertia force associated with the mass at each piston
no such thing as perfect balance

Introduction : Automotive Acoustics & Vibration - NVH

Everything that moves makes a sound or vibration,
and humans have evolved to use the sound and vibration
information generated by moving objects, or beings, to navigate
their way through life. So, as life becomes ever more complex,
how should we interface with the sound and vibration that
characterises one of our largest personal financial investments
Designing for NVH is a process that requires the
the automobile?
integration of customer product expectations with the vehicle
design and development process. To the customer, NVH is
defined in terms
of how the vehicle feels with
regards to vibration levels at the seat,
toe pan, and steering column, and
how the vehicle sounds with
regards to the perceived loudness
and quality of the interior noise.
To the design and development
engineers, NVH is defined in terms
of measurable tactile and acoustic responses.

Introduction : Automotive Acoustics & Vibration - NVH

Increasing demands for improved NVH performance in
passenger vehicles has led to renewed interest in determining
measures of what represents a pleasing environment to the
customer. One of the first steps in the development of a new
vehicle is to determine the NVH characteristics to be targeted.
Existing reference vehicles are selected using customer ride clinics,
expert ride evaluators, and design management.

Tactile Vibration Criteria :

The vibration criteria to be discussed here will focus on
vibration that is felt by the customer. This occurs where the
passenger comes into contact with the vehicle at the feet, seat,
arms and hands. In the typical passenger vehicle, the
frequency range of this vibration is from 0 to 25 Hz.
iii. Intolerable
ii. Unpleasant

10e-1

i. Threshold of
perception

10e-2

10e-3

10

20

50

100

Acoustic Response Criteria :

The sound levels to be considered here will be those
experienced by the passengers within the interior cavity under
normal operating conditions. There is an overlap from 25 to 50 Hz
where the NVH experience is both felt & heard and then the
sound response will begin to dominate. From 50 to 300 Hz, the
noise will typically be dominated by structure borne sources. Again
there is an overlap until air-borne sources become dominant at
about 500 Hz and above. These are only general rules and
exceptions inevitably exist.
The structure-borne noise below the 125 Hz region is a very
important one since most noise energy is present there. This is
because a typical vehicle will have its fundamental first order
modes in this region which must be carefully engineered to avoid
unpleasant noise levels. Also this is the range that can be most
easily simulated with computer models of vehicle systems with
typical computer resources available to the auto industry.

Time and Frequency Relation

Responses perceived in vehicle vary with time as vehicle

operates under loads
Responses are usually steady state and periodic in nature
It is convenient and intuitive to consider responses in frequency
domain while preserving the signal content.

Designing for NVH

Basic Principles :
Automotive NVH issues involve tactile and acoustic
responses. Seat shake, toe pan vibration and steering column
shake are examples of typical tactile responses. Acoustic responses
include sound levels at drivers ear and rear passenger ear
locations. Noise sources can be characterized as either air-borne or
structure-borne. Vibration energy transmitted to the structure as
shown below

Types of Frequency Analysis :

Designing for NVH

Most of the noise energy in a typical automobile is below

125 Hz. Noise and vibrations concerns below 125Hz must usually
be dealt with by major structural changes such as additional cross
members, reinforcements, and beam section sizes.
Above 125 Hz, vehicle interior noise is usually the main concern
and can be dealt with by local design modifications such as panel
Vehicle system design for NVH involves minimizing the
beads and damping treatments.
tactile and acoustic responses to these inputs to achieve the desired
NVH performance. Forces to the body structure from suspension
and power train excitations are effectively reduced by designing for
isolation.
Road, tire and power train load conditions used in
Road induced Tire induced
Power train
NVH analysis :
induced
Road shake

Tire/Wheel unbalance

Engine idle shake

Rough road
noise

Tire force variation

Engine lugging boom

Driveline unbalance

Identifying Key NVH Paths

Key NVH paths are identified by Transfer Path Analysis (TPA)

TPA is a technique to perform phased summation of partial

responses
through all NVH paths to give total tactile or acoustic response
under
operating loads at a given frequency
TPA is applicable in both testing and simulation scenarios to
identify key
paths

Noise path analysis :

Total Acoustic Response is summation of partial responses

over all noise paths
Pt = paths [Pi ] = paths [ (P/F) i * Fi ]
Pi : Partial contribution of path (i ) due to operating force
(P/F) i : Acoustic Transfer Function of the ith Path

Transfer Path Analysis

TPA allows path rankings based on contribution to total response
of noise paths at a given frequency
TPA thus helps identify key noise paths
TPA is mainly used for acoustic response in mid frequency range

Designing for NVH

After establishing the required response characteristics at
the vehicle level, subsystem performance targets can be
established from an analysis of the major vehicle subsystems.
Generally frequency separation chart is used to show how the
subsystem targets line up with the chassis and power train modes,
interior acoustic modes, and excitation sources. As was the case
for the full vehicle, subsystem targets can be established based on
measurements of the subsystems from comparative vehicles, and
from analysis of the simulation model subsystems.
Typically subsystem performance parameters, ranked in the order
or priority, would include.
i.Trimmed body bending and torsion natural frequencies
ii.Body acoustic impedance in the form of P/F (sound pressure per
unit excitation force) transfer functions measured at the chassis
and power train attachment points.
iii.Body in white (BIW) bending and torsion natural frequencies
iv.BIW static bending and torsional stiffness.