This paper is a case study from the TESSA project (French funded research program “Transfert des Efforts des Sources Solidiennes Actives”). The general frame of the work was to assess a collaborative design process between a car manufacturer and a major supplier using FE modelling and condensation of structure borne noise sources as an alternative to classic specification method for structure borne sources.
Super elements from different FE commercial softwares have been used to assess the reliability of the method, the compatibility of the softwares and, most important, the relevance of applying a blocked force tensor to the component super element to predict the interior contribution of a component which is the originality of this work.
The case study is an internal combustion engine cooling module (fan + shroud + exchangers) from VALEO including all assembly details (clips, decoupling elements) modelled under ABAQUS and its integration in a RENAULT Espace under NASTRAN. The force tensor is the rotating forces generated by the fan unbalance and propagating through the sub-component of the cooling pack to the car-body. The simulation work has been cross-checked with experimental measurements on a real vehicle as seen on Figure 1.
The paper presents the challenges and hurdles encountered to achieve this complete roll-out of the super-element methodology and conclude on the precision, easiness and relevance of using this process. A comparison with experimental results is also presented.