Experimental Determination of Low Frequency Noise Contributions of Interior Vehicle Body Panels in Normal Operation

Low frequency noise from engine- and wheel-vibrations often dominates the interior noise spectrum in vehicles. For the optimization of vehicle bodies it is necessary to know the contribution of individual body panels to sound pressures at the passengers ear.

An experimental approach is presented which makes use of reciprocal acoustic transfer function measurements and surface acceleration measurements in normal road operation. This method, called Airborne Source Quantification, has been applied as a diagnostic tool to the interior noise of a four cylinder diesel engined van.