Good Vibrations

AEI takes a look at what some companies are doing to improve vehicle NVH.

Engineering a noise-, vibration-, and harshness-friendly car rates as a highly challenging assignment because the NVH jury is in the courtroom of subjective opinion. “The most complicated component in the vehicle is the human body,” says Kuntal Thakurta, Chief Engineer-Foam and Comfort Engineering for Johnson Controls, Inc. in Plymouth, MI.

Johnson Controls' ongoing research into seat-transmitted vibrations shows a connection to a driver and a passenger's physical temperament. Abdominal pain, muscle contraction, chest tightness, lower jaw discomfort, headache, speech slur, and breathing changes represent various body responses that have been associated with vibrations in the 5-30 Hz range. “That's why we don't want the seat to transmit certain frequencies to the occupant,” Thakurta says.