An Overview of Structures and Acoustics Technology in Automotive Applications

The application of advanced technology to automobile design has increased significantly during the past decade. This paper briefly reviews the development of structural analysis methods and acoustic techniques, and describes their current application in the design and development of automotive vehicles. Relatively new approaches to automotive vehicle weight reduction, including structural optimization and materials substitution are described. Noise reduction techniques which are discussed include finite element acoustic analysis and Fourier analysis techniques for noise measurement.