The Application of Direct Body Excitation Toward Developing a Full Vehicle Objective Squeak and Rattle Metric

In order to engineer Squeak & Rattle (S&R) free vehicles it is essential to develop an objective measurement method to compare and correlate with customer satisfaction and subjective S&R assessments. Three methods for exciting S&Rs -type surfaces. Excitation methods evaluated were road tests over S&R surfaces, road simulators, and direct body excitation (DBE). The principle of DBE involves using electromagnetic shakers to induce controlled, road-measured vibration into the body, bypassing the tire patch and suspension. DBE is a promising technology for making objective measurements because it is extremely quiet (test equipment noise does not mask S&Rs), while meeting other project goals. While DBE is limited in exposing S&Rs caused by body twist and suspension noises, advantages include higher frequency energy owing to electro-dynamic shakers, continuous random excitation, lower capital cost, mobility, and safety. Results show that almost all S&R issues found on the road and simulator are found on DBE. In many cases additional issues are discovered because of the lack of background noise. Initial data tends to show that using DBE to excite interior S&Rs is preferable to actual roads or to 4-post road simulators for making objective measurements.