Nonlinear vehicle seat BSR characterization using CAE methodology

The noise and vibration of a poor automotive seat aggravate the interior cabin noise and discomfort. The automotive seat structural noise and vibration is caused by the transmission of the power train or road vibration into the seat. The characterization of seat structural dynamics behavior in early design phase assists to effectively improve the NVH quality of the seat. The seat nonlinear buzz, squeak, and rattle (BSR) noise are the major issues which are directly linked to the NVH quality of the vehicle. For this purpose, a practical CAE (computer-aided engineering) concept modeling method is introduced and developed for full BIW (body-in-white) and seat separately. Here, the seat concept model is employed to allow designing the seat structure modifications as well as examining the effects of the modifications on the rattle noise. Comparisons of the results of the simulation and experiment validate the developed seat CAE model. Three modifications are proposed to optimize the dynamics of the seat structure to prevent the seat rattle noise. These modifications are designed to shift or decrease the seat torsion resonance and vibration level, respectively. The results verified that by modification the seat structural dynamics, the nonlinear events such as rattle noise and in general BSR noise can be reduced or controlled accordingly.