Interior noise in vehicles constitutes a significant problem in the automotive industry. The customer-Knowingly or not - perceives noise as a lack of quality, in a product for which he has paid a lot of money, most likely. Therefore all manufacturers put a lot of effort into avoiding sources of interfering noise in a car's interior. In addition to numerous complex and lengthy trials, expensive measures in the manufacturing process intended to remedy noise, burden the result. Due to the high volume of produced cars, the smallest additional expenditure (per vehicle) can lead to considerable costs.
Generally, the later a problem is detected, the less scope there is for its solution and the higher the costs. Therefore, simulation methods are applied to identify weak spots as early as possible. Usually linear calculation methods are used and the results are evaluated in various ways. However, since the relevant mechanisms of noise generation are based on contact and friction, i.e. to nonlinearities, the information provided by such calculation methods is severely limited.
First nonlinear methods, which consider the contact behavior within noise prediction are already developed. Goal of this project is to improve the existing nonlinear methods, which enables a more reliable prediction of squeak and rattle noises.
