Sound Package Weight Reduction: An Analysis Through Tests and SEA Models

This paper discusses the methods of reducing weight of sound package through a new approach in sound absorption and insulation. In contrast to conventional sound package theory, a light porous material with high absorption (Ultra Light material) is used to replace a conventional porous/barrier sandwich material (classic), which results in an equivalent or better noise reduction in-vehicle with significant weight reduction.

A Noise Reduction (NR) test was conducted with a box equipped with both the Ultra Light material and classic material. A SEA model of the same setup was also analyzed. Results from both the test and the analysis show that it is possible to achieve weight reduction by replacing conventional porous/barrier sandwich materials with light porous materials with high absorption. Finally, prediction from a vehicle SEA model and vehicle testing results for both materials are compared and show that weight of the classic sound package can be reduced significantly with no degradation in performance.