The Use of Discrete Wavelet Transform in Road Loads Signals Compression

Wavelets are a powerful mathematical tool used to multi-resolution time-frequency decomposition of signals, in order to analyze them in different scales and obtain different aspects of the information. Despite being a relatively new tool, wavelets have being applied in several areas of human knowledge, especially in signal processing, with emphasis in encoding and compression of image, video and audio. Based on a previous successful applications (FRAZIER, 1999) together a commitment to quality results, this paper evaluates the use of the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) as an compression algorithm to reduce the amount of data collected in road load signals (load history) which are used by the durability engineering teams in the automotive industry. Preliminary results show that the using of DWT to compress the acquired signals reduces the computational effort, processing time, storage space and traffic on networks, improving the process of numerical determination of stress, deformation and fatigue life by CAE, still keeping the desired quality parameters and precision of the results.