A Novel Transfer Path Analysis Method Delivering a Fast and Accurate Noise Contribution Assessment

Since its first publication in the beginning of the eighties, Transfer Path Analysis (TPA) has evolved into a widely used tool for noise and vibration troubleshooting and internal load estimation, and this for single source as well as multivariate problems. One of the main bottlenecks preventing its even more widespread use in the actual vehicle development process is the test time to build the full data model, requiring not only in-operation tests but also extensive Frequency Response Function tests.

As a consequence, several new approaches have appeared over the past years attempting to circumvent this limitation, such as Fast and Multilevel TPA and Operational TPA. The latter method attracts quite some attention as it only requires operational data measured at the path references and target locations. However, being a transmissibility method as known from structural dynamics, its application requires special care to overcome the related ill-conditioning and missing-reference-sensitivity problems and it essentially leads to assessing a co-existence relationship between target responses and path references and does not allow to draw causality conclusions in terms of paths. Hence a new approach is proposed, using a parametric model for the estimation of loads. This makes the method scalable, enabling the engineer to use a simpler model based on a small amount of measurement data for quick troubleshooting or increase accuracy by using a more complex model together with additional measurements.