Investigation of Noise Reduction in Vehicle Floor Panels Through Damping Pads: Implications for Human Hearing and Noise Exposure Levels

Abstract

High noise exposure levels and prolonged noise exposure have negative physical and mental impacts. This study provides a review of the health effects associated with noise exposure, the regulations and laws that govern permissible noise levels, and a novel approach to assessing the human response to noise exposure. Subsequently, the issue of vehicle interior noise, which significantly contributes to daily noise exposure, was tackled by focusing on reducing the noise levels caused by floor panels by employing damping materials. While the most effective approach to noise reduction is to install damping material on all floor panels, choosing to cover only specific areas exhibiting the most intense vibrations is more cost- and time-efficient and averts the complications that may arise from the extra mass of damping materials. To achieve this, a finite element model of the front, center, and rear floors and all adjacent panels was created, and the critical areas for damping material placement were determined by performing a frequency response analysis (FRA) and studying the dynamic behavior of the FE model via MSC Nastran software. Installing damping pads using this optimal method only increased the mass of the floor by 2.6%. The noise reduction by damping pads becomes evident by a reduction of up to 4 percent in average A-weighted noise values at three critical points with and without said pads. Furthermore, in order to examine the impact of damping pads on human noise exposure, the A-weighted average noise levels were computed and compared prior to and following the installation of damping pads. The positive impact of noise reduction by damping pads on noise exposure and, as a result, human well-being is illustrated and emphasized by the A-weighted average noise level’s ( LeqA) reduction of up to more than 3 percent.