Vehicle interior acoustic performance is an important part of customer satisfaction. Radiating panels enclosing the vehicle cabin are very important for vehicle interior quietness. One of the most critical vehicle panels for the engine noise propagation to the vehicle interior is the dash panel. Most of the engine noise propagates through the dash panel to the vehicle interior. The dash material density, thickness and its damping properties significantly influence the dash panel sound transmission performance.
In this study, the dash design of “Vehicle A” has been evaluated using the Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) modeling and NVH testing tools. SEA and physical testing of 2′×2′ square sample panels were conducted on different dash materials and lamination materials. Dash component level and vehicle level SEA to TEST correlation results are reported to highlight the NVH performance of the dash design as well as the SEA prediction capability and its applicability in vehicle design. This study focused on only the dash sheet metal and its damping properties. We did not address any dash sound package materials.
Dash component level and full vehicle level SEA predictions correlate well with the test data. The full vehicle SEA analyses indicate that increasing dash damping loss factor value from 4% to 25% increases predicted vehicle engine noise reduction by up to 1.7 dB.