ENGINEERING AT THE NEW NVH FRONTIER

Electrification brings new benchmarks, tools, and challenges to the ongoing battle with noise, vibration and harshness.

The complex science of analyzing and abating noise, vibration, and harshness has entered a “new frontier” as the industry transitions to electrified vehicles, experts in the NVH field tell SAE Media. New design and engineering challenges at the component, system, and full-vehicle levels continue to emerge as EV offerings expand beyond the initial wave of predominantly premium-spec products. Engineers note that benchmarking activity and the introduction of new analysis and testing tools related to NVH mitigation are at “crazy” levels.

“Our interest in acoustically improved vehicles always is going to accelerate and the NVH technology must always meet customer expectations,” observed Pranab Saha, whose company Kolana & Saha Engineers in Waterford, Mich., specializes in acoustics, noise and vibration analysis and testing. He noted that some of the latest EV designs show progress in attacking both NVH sources and their propagation paths. There is less reliance on “patch” materials - urethane foams deployed in body cavities and mastics baked into underbody areas that add mass, cost and complexity. But Saha and other experts do not believe those so-called “Band-Aid” sound dampers will be eliminated entirely.