The Analysis and Control of Aural Discomfort inside a Car at the Instant of Door Closing

With the continuous improvement of vehicle air leakage performance, an aural discomfort phenomenon had been occurred at the instant of vehicle door closing. There are many studies on door closing sound quality in past 20 years, but there is little publications on the study of the aural discomfort due to a transient high air pressure fluctuations. In this paper, the relationships of passenger’s aural discomfort produced by interior air pressure fluctuations are systematically studied. The ratio of door surface area to passenger compartment volume and other related parameters such as the cross-sectional area of a vehicle, the air extractor size, and the vehicle body air leakage under positive pressure are also studied through CAE analysis and verified through a large number of objective measurements and subjective vehicle evaluation.

Base on this study, a new threshold value of air pressure fluctuation for human aural comfort, and a new objective evaluation index for aural discomfort due to the transient air pressure fluctuations are defined. Some guidelines for the pressure exhaust system design and development to improve the door closing aural comfort of passenger vehicles are provided.