Automotive Engineering - June 2023 - 22

ENGINEERING AT THE
NEW NVH
FRONTIER
COVER STORY
Engineer Codi Anderson conducts a centerpoint bar measurement
for a vibration damping project at NVH analysis specialists
Kolana & Saha Engineers.
ware rapidly work through various ideas and weed out
those that are unfeasible (see sidebar). The next step is
subjective evaluation, where NVH really must be experienced
if decisions are to be made with confidence.
" You can get a certain level of answers from the
desktop, " Bogema said. " But desktop simulation
doesn't have the full benefit of immersion and reality
that experiencing virtual prototypes on physical simulators
delivers. "
Predicting acoustic noise and vibration generated
VI-grade's Compact NVH driving simulator allows engineers to precisely dial in
real-world-quality noise, vibrations and harshness .
This is bringing new and different types of lightweight damping materials
and other technologies into the picture. "
Reducing the mass of all the additional NVH treatments and acoustic
packages is a related focus. " This comes back to the importance of
reducing noise at the source, " said Govindswamy. " A lot of simulation
work is going into that, and it's a challenge. But it's also teaching engineers
to use lighter weight acoustical materials more efficiently. "
As with all areas of vehicle development, simulation is increasingly
integral to NVH mitigation. " I see it as a pyramid with the sign-off at
the top tip and an immense amount of work that goes on underneath
it to get to the sign-off point, " observed Dave Bogema, senior director
of product management at VI-grade, maker of simulation tools for
NVH and vehicle dynamics work. NVH analysis begins at the desktop
where engineers using the latest, increasingly capable analysis soft22
June 2023
by electric machines is challenging due to the variety
of physical domains and complex interactions among
these domains. Electromagnetics, thermodynamics,
and vibro-acoustic analyses are required in a coupled
fashion for a precise prediction of acoustic noise generated
by electric machines. According to Ansys
Solutions, there are four essential elements for accurately
predicting acoustic noise: need for a high-fidelity
simulation solution to account for all the physics
involved; a platform to couple all the different physics
elements; ability to parameterize and optimize machine
design parameters for each of the physics involved,
and high-performance computing capability to
accelerate the simulation.
There's also vehicle dynamics, in many ways inseparable
from NVH including how they influence the virtualprototype
evaluation process and the occupant's perception
of vehicle refinement. Physical simulation tools are
expanding to meet the many facets of EV refinement.
" When you drive a vehicle, you feel everything at
the same time, " VI-grade's Bogema said. " If you're doing
ride comfort, which is a multi-sensory motion, vibration,
and sound experience, putting NVH and vehicle
dynamics together delivers the repeatability and
control that are vital to overall fidelity. " His company
recently launched its new Compact Full-Spectrum
Simulator (FSS) at the 2023 SAE Noise and Vibration
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
FROM LEFT: VI-GRADE; LINDSAY BROOKE
Automotive Engineering - June 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - June 2023
