Study on the Analysis Process of the Damping Material for Reduced Floor Vibration

This paper describes the design process of floor damping material optimization to reduce structure borne noise. This process uses finite element analysis(FEA) along with experimental techniques to complement each other. The objective of this approach was to develop an optimized damping material application layout and thickness at the initial design stage. The first step is to find the sensitivity areas of vehicle body without damping material applied using FEA. In order to determine the high vibration areas of the floor panel, the velocity was measured using a scanning laser vibrometer from 20 Hz to 300 Hz. To excite the floor panel vibration, shaker was placed at the front suspension attachment point. The second step is the optimization process to determine the light weight solution of damping material. The design guideline of damping material was suggested that the lightweight solution was verified using test result of road noise. Design engineer could efficiently decide the design variable of damping material using parameter analysis results in early design stage.