Degradation of Vehicle Noise and Vibration by Ageing of Elastomers

The vehicle elastomeric components such as engine mounts could be aged and degraded by environmental loads such as thermal and mechanical loads during long term usage by customers. These make the degradation of vehicle driving performance comparing with a new condition. In this study, the main cause of NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) degradation of a used vehicle was analyzed. It could be identified by the analysis of vibration insulating property changes of elastomeric components. The properties changes of aged engine mounts were analyzed and compared with initial properties. The accelerated laboratory ageing test mode was developed for simulating the degradation of engine mounts by thermal load analysis. Moreover, parametric studies were carried out to identify the robust engineering design technique. The engineering design parameters of elastomers such as volume, thickness and mechanical loading types were identified to improve the degradation phenomenon.