NVH Category

NVH Characteristic

Frequency (Hz)

Steady State Frequency Response

Ride
<5
Shake 5 - 40
Boom
20 - 100
Moan
100 - 150
Structural Borne Noise
150 500
Air Borne Noise
> 500

Transient Response

Harshness

20 - 100

Single Degree of Freedom

Control by
Damping

Control by
Dynamic
Stiffness

Control by
Mass

Isolation Region

fn

2 * fn

Dynamic Stiffness
Dynamic Stiffness:
(K - m 2) j C
K* = ---------------------------------(K - m 2)2 + (C )2
Mass M
Stiffness K

Damping C

= 2* *f
f is the frequency

Pure Tone
Sound at a single frequency
Sound Pressure
Objective measurement

dB
Logarithmic of sound pressure

dBA
A-Weighted to adjust for ear sensitivity

Human Sensitivity
More constant across frequency range
with velocity
Hearing range 20 2000 Hz
Depends on overall level
Sound at one frequency may mask by
other frequencies
Depends on age, sex and other factors

Tactile Response
Subjective-Objective
Acceleration

SR = 5
SR = 6

Frequency

Tactile Response
Subjective-Objective (2)
Velocity

SR = 5

SR = 6
Frequency

Sound Pressure Level

and A Weighting

NVH Classification
Operating Condition
Idle, Low Speed, Cruising, POT, WOT

Subjective Evaluation
Shake, Boom, Noise, Harshness

Objective Measurement
Sound Pressure, Acceleration

Frequency Range
Source
Powertrain, Road, Exhaust

NVH Subjective Rating

No Sale

Most
Targets

NVH Objectives
Assess vehicle responses relative to
design targets:
Tactile responses
Seat track
Steering column
Toe pan

Acoustic responses
Drivers ear
Front Passengers ear
Rear passengers ear

Shake

5 40 Hz
Idle Shake
Isolated Road Shake
Rough Road Shake
Smooth Road Shake
Wheel/Tire Imbalance
Tire Force Variation

Design For Shake

Body vertical, lateral bending and torsion
modes
Front end bending and torsion modes
Front floor modes
Steering column modes
Seat modes
Avoid stickiness of the shock and CV joints
that causes high force input and resonance
in smooth road shake

Design For Shake (2)

Mode separation and mode shape
management of engine bounce, roll, pitch
and yaw rigid body modes

Boom

20 - 100 Hz
Idle Boom
Isolated Road Boom
Rough Road Boom

Body Design for Boom

1st and 2nd fore-aft acoustic modes

Body 1st and 2nd order vertical bending
Front floor vertical bending
Dash panel fore-aft bending
Quarter panel bending
Fuel tank bounce
Spare tire tub bounce
Decklid, liftgate or lower back panel pumping

Structural Borne Noise

100 - 500 Hz
Powertrain Noise
Rough Road Noise
Gear Whine

Design For Noise

Most of the vibration energy imparted to the vehicle
is below 150 Hz.
Below 150 Hz:
Body structure is important for controlling noise and
vibration
Lack of structure usually results in costly design and
tooling changes
Above 150 Hz:
Can be resolved with relatively simple structure
modifications, such as bead patterns, or damping
treatments.

Design For Noise (2)

Powertrain Bending Isolation
Powertrain Bracket Isolation

Modal Chart

CHASSIS/POWERTRAIN MODES
Suspension Hop and Tramp Modes
Ride Modes

Suspension Longitudinal Modes

Powertrain Modes

10

15

Exhaust Modes
20

25

30

35

40

45

50
Hz

BODY/ACOUSTIC MODES
Body First Torsion (25Hz)

Steering Column First Vertical Bending (29Hz)

Body First Bending (22Hz)

0

10

15

First F/A Acoustic Modes (48Hz)

20

25

30

35

40

45

50
Hz

EXCITATION SOURCES
Inherent Excitations (General Road Spectrum, Reciprocating Unbalance, Gas Torque, etc.)
Process Variation Excitations (Engine, Driveline, Accessory, Wheel/Tire Unbalances)
First Order Wheel/Tire Unbalance (5-75MPH)
0

10

15

20

25

V8 Idle (500-550RPM)
Hot Cold
30

35

40

45

50
Hz

Body-in-White Targets
Static Stiffness
Bending
Torsion

Normal Modes
Vertical bending
Torsion
Lateral bending

Trimmed Body Targets

Normal Modes
Vertical bending
Torsion
Lateral bending
Front end bending
Front end torsion

Instrument Panel/Column
Targets
Normal Modes
Vertical bending
Lateral bending

Seat Targets
Normal Modes
On Bedplate
Fore aft
Lateral

In Vehicle
Fore aft
Lateral

Different row may have different target

Idle Load

Idle Torque
Pbore
mrecip

Ttotal ( Fgas Frecip ) * h * tan

arecip

Pcrank

Frecip mrecip * arecip

Fgas ( Pbore Pcrank ) * Abore

Piston Displacement
h L cos r cos

Pbore
mrecip

cos 1 sin 2

arecip

r sin
sin
L

L cos L 1 sin 2
r

Pcrank

h L 1 sin 2 r cos

Trigonometric Derivatives
Pbore
mrecip
recip

Pcrank

d sin
d
cos
dt
dt
d cos
d
sin
dt
dt
n
du
n 1 du
nu
dt
dt
d (u v) du dv

dt
dt dt
duvw
dw
dv
du
uv
uw vw
dt
dt
dt
dt

Piston Velocity
Pbore
mrecip
arecip

dh d
v
( L cos r cos )
dt dt
d
r 2 cos sin

r sin 2 2 2
dt
L r sin

Pcrank

r cos sin

r sin

2
2
2
L r sin

Piston Acceleration
Pbore
mrecip

dv
d
r cos sin
a
(r ) (sin
dt
dt
L2 r 2 sin 2

arecip

Pcrank

r 2 cos 2

r cos
L2 r 2 sin 2

r 4 cos 2 sin 2

3
( L2 r 2 sin 2 ) 2

Smooth Road Shake

Wheel/Tire Imbalance
Definition

Simulation

Shake caused by the unbalanced inertia forces from the

high speed rotation of the unbalanced wheel in vehicle
cruising

Load
1.0 oz-inch (Sensitivity) unbalanced force at the spindles
Both vertical and fore-aft loads with vertical load trailing
fore-aft load by 90 degrees

Applications
Front wheel in-phase, Front wheel out-of-phase, Rear wheel
in-phase and Rear wheel out-of-phase

Wheel/Tire Imbalance
Calculation
F = mr2
F is imbalance Force (N)
m is imbalance mass (Mg)
r is imbalance radius (mm)
is rotation speed (rad/sec)

F = 1.0 oz-in = 1.0 * 28.3 * 10-6 (Mg/oz) * 25.4

(mm/inch) * 4 * 2 * f2 = 0.0284 * f2 (N)
f is frequency (cycles/sec)

Wheel/Tire Imbalance
Speed Map
The wheel/tire speed map (frequency v.s.
vehicle speed) is dependent on the wheel/tire
size, the wheel/tire stiffness and the payload
V = 2 * * Tire Effective Radius * Frequency
However, the Frequency/Vehicle Speed(MPH) is
typically around 0.2
Based on the above assumption, the frequency
range of interest from 25 MPH to 125 MPH is
5 Hz to 25 Hz

Tire Force Variation Definition

Simulation
Shake caused by the variation of the radial stiffness of
the tires

Load
1.0 lbf (Sensitivity) variation force at the spindles
Vertical load only

Applications
Front wheel in-phase, Front wheel out-of-phase, Rear
wheel in-phase and Rear wheel out-of-phase

Tire Force Variation

Speed Map
The wheel/tire speed map (frequency v.s.
vehicle speed) is dependent on the wheel/tire
size, the wheel/tire stiffness and the payload
V = 2 * * Tire Effective Radius * Frequency
However, the Frequency/Vehicle Speed(MPH) is
typically around 0.2
Based on the above assumption, the frequency
ranges of interest from 25 MPH to 125 MPH are
First Order : 5 Hz to 25 Hz
Second Order : 10 Hz to 50 Hz

Rough Road Noise

Spatial PSD Road Profile

Spatial Frequency ( Cycles / mm)
Wave number
1 / wavelength

PSD Amplitude (mm^2 / (cycles / mm))

Power Regression Analysis (Y = 1.7872 * X-0.6729)