Application of NVH Countermeasures for Interior Booming Noise using Elastomeric Tuned Mass Damper

Tuned mass dampers (TMD) are frequently used in vehicles to resolve vibration and interior booming noise issues arising from powertrain's vibration and road excitation. This paper describes a driveshaft NVH case study in which analysis and test were used to solve the NVH problem. A TMD simulation package that utilizes a database of measured elastomeric material propertied. This facilitates the designing of optimized damper systems for a wide variety of vehicle applications. The simulation software takes into account frequency effects on elastomer properties while designing dampers. And the approach has proven to accurately predict performance in vehicles prior to manufacture. Rules of thumb for TMD design are discussed including locations for placement of dampers in automotive structures, determining the needed mass, and measurements and simulations that can greatly improve the success and reducing time-cost for TMD design.