In Situ PU Surface Impedance Measurements for Quality Control at the End of an Assembly Line

With PU probes the sound pressure and acoustic particle velocity can be measured directly. Over recent years, the in situ surface impedance method, making use of such a probe, has proven to be an alternative to Kundt's tube measurements for product development type of work.

The in situ method can also be used for the purpose of quality control on the acoustic material, be it during manufacturing or assembly, ensuring the best possible way to monitor the practical effectiveness of the acoustic package designed earlier on.

In order to assess the variance of the acoustic package material leaving the assembly line, a relevant number of samples were taken over time. The quality of both the headliners, and the passenger seats were measured, of 25 cars of the same type. The robustness of the measurement method will be discussed, and the results will be presented.