Measurement and Analysis of Booming

Noise in Pick-up Truck Cab

Peng Hao, Sifa Zheng, Heng Xia, Xiaomin Lian, Keqiang Li

State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety & Energy, Tsinghua

University, Beijing, China 100084

Abstract：The booming noise is an important part of vehicle interior noise, and to reduce
this noise, the structure-acoustic mode analysis experimentation is one of the most important
technical methods. Because of the non-linear of vehicle interior structure and material, it’s
difficult to obtain mode analysis result with high precision. According to the requirement of
improve a truck cab booming noise, an improved structure-acoustic mode analysis method is
proposed in this study. The coherence coefficient of the input and output signals is used as the
weighting factor of transfer function to synthesize the total transfer function. Then the mode
parameters that calculated by the least squares complex exponent method are filtrated with
synthetic transfer function and mode authentic gene.

According to analyzing the reasons that generate the inner noise of a pick-up truck cab, we
measure the transfer functions between the exciting force and sound-pressure of driver’s right
ear’s position by the experiment of the conventional structural excitation, and calculated the
mode parameters of the vehicle by the improved analysis technique. The structure modification
scheme is proposed. The test result of the truck shows that, the proposed structure-acoustic
mode analysis method and the modification scheme of the vehicle is effective.

Keywords：Booming Noise, Structure-Acoustics, Model analysis

1. Introduction

The interior noise is an important factor to evaluate a vehicle. The booming noise has
great influence to sound quality of interior noise. Reducing the booming noise level is a key
step to refine the vehicle’s NVH performance. Because of the complexity of vehicle construct
and the nonlinear character of interior material, the analysis result of interior noise using FEM
or BEM isn’t precise enough. Combine the experiment and analysis result is an important
method to evaluate and improve the vehicle interior noise. The structure-acoustics modal
analysis (SAMA) is one of the important steps to analyze the booming noise. [1][2][3]

Because of the interaction of each connecting part, and the damp of the decorating
materials in the cab, the damp of the structure-acoustic system in the cab is biggish. [4] [5]
Usually the reliability and precision of signals is very low and makes it difficult to analyze the
system. So in the general method of modal experiment, vehicle is lift from the ground, the
interior decorating structure and materials are removed from the cab panel. [6] [7]. This simple
method could assure the linear characteristics of the cab system and make the test work of the
mode analysis easier. But there is much difference between the test result and the actual work
status. [8] [9]. So the result could not describe the dynamic characteristics of the vehicle when it
is working. In this paper the structure-acoustic modal experiment of the real vehicle is studied.

An improved SAMA method is proposed in this research. In this method, the coherence
coefficient of the input and output signals is used as the weighting factor of transfer function to
synthesize the total transfer function. And the modal parameters calculated using least square
complex exponent (LSCE) is filtered using modal authentic coefficient (MAC). The proposed
method was used to analyze the booming noise from a pick-up truck cab. The structure-acoustic
modal of the truck was analyzed, the modal parameter was calculated, and the structure
modification scheme was proposed. The test result of the truck shows that, the proposed SAMA
method and the modification scheme of the vehicle is effective.

2. The improved structure-acoustic modal analysis

method

2.1. Structure-acoustic modal analysis(SAMA)

While the cab is impact by force Fi , the vibration of the panel produces the sound pressure

PA at point A in the cab. According to the basic theory of acoustics, the sound pressure PA
is given by
L
1 exp(− jkRm )
PA = jωρ ∑ Vm ΔS m (1)
m =1 2π Rm

where L is the number of the panels in the cab; ω is the vibration frequency; ρ is

the density of air; Vm is the sound resource vibration speed of point m ; ΔS m is the surface

area of point m ; Rm is the distance between point m and point A in the cab; k is the

wave number.

When the point i in the cab is impact by the force Fi , the transfer function H mi

between the vibration speed Vm of point m and the force Fi is given by

Vm = jω H mi Fi (2)
 So Hmi can be expressed as

∞
⎧ umr uir u *u * ⎫
H Ai = ∑ ⎨ + * mr ir * ⎬ (3)
r =1 ⎩ ar ( jω − pr ) ar ( jω − pr ) ⎭

umr and uir are mode shape coefficients of point m and point i structure vibration;

ar is unitary coefficients; pr is the apex of transfer function.

So,

ρ ∞
⎧ uir u Ar uir *u Ar ' ⎫
H Ai = −ω
2π
2
∑ ⎨
r =1 ⎩ ar ( jω − pr )
+ * ⎬
ar ( jω − pr * ) ⎭
(4)

L
u Ar = ∑ umr ΔSm exp(− jkRm ) / Rm
m =1
(5)
L
u Ar = ∑ umr ΔSm exp(− jkRm ) / Rm
' *

m =1

2.2. Transfer function synthesizing and modal coefficient filtrating

According to the modal analysis theory, if some modal rank is real, in this modal
frequency, there will be a formant of the system transfer function. [11] In principle, the data of
every test point should contain the information of all models. But the test point might be on the
node of some modal rank, the transfer function might lose the information of this modal rank. If
compose the transfer functions of every test point and get the total function of the system which
named integrative transfer function (ITF), the ITF will augment formants, and make the
calculation of modal frequency exacter. [12][13] Because the structure of the test object is complex
and non-linear, the data of some test point might be fuzzy, and the transfer function is
unauthentic. So if these functions are composed into the ITF, the precision of the ITF will be
reduced. [14]

Because of this reason, we make the coherence of input and output signals as the criterion
to evaluate the transfer function reliability. If the coherence of the input and output signals in
some frequency is higher, the output signal in this frequency is basically caused by the input
signal, and the reliability of the transfer function in this frequency is higher. Otherwise the
reliability of the transfer function is low.

According to the probability theory, the coherence is used to describe the linear
relationship between two stochastic processes in some moment, which can be expressed as

σFP
γ FP = i Ai
(6)
σFσP
i Ai
 σ F P = E ⎡⎣( Fi − μ x ) ( PAi − μ y ) ⎤⎦ = lim ∑ ( F − μ )( P )
N
1
i Fi Ai − μ PAi
i Ai N →0 N
i =1

γ FP is the coherence between impact force and response sound pressure; σ Fi PAi is the

covariance of impact force and response sound pressure; σ F is the standard deviation of
i

impact force; σ P is the standard deviation of response sound pressure; Fi is the impact
Ai

force; μ F is the warp of the impact force; PAi is the response sound pressure ; μ P is the
i Ai

warp of the response sound pressure.

Use the coherences of the input and output signals of the test data as the transfer function
coefficients for each test point to calculate the ITF. So the ITF can be expressed as,
N
H A = ∑ γ FP H Ai
i =1
(7)
N σFP ρ ∞
⎧ uir u Ar uir *u Ar ' ⎫
= −∑ ω2 i Ai
∑ ⎨ + * ⎬
i =1 σ F σ P 2π r =1 ⎩ ar ( jω − pr ) ar ( jω − pr ) ⎭
*
i Ai

where H A is the ITF of the system; H Ai is the transfer function of each impact point

and response point; γ FP is the coherence between the impact force and response sound
pressure.

Make the peak value frequency of the ITF composed by the coherences as the reference of
the modal frequency. And then filter the modal frequency and parameter calculate by LSCE
with them. So the influence of the error signals or modal node is reduced.

To filter the modal, and wipe off the local model, use the modal authentic coefficient
(MAC) to estimate the modal parameter.

The MAC is given by

2
MOM (c, d )
MAC (c, d ) = (8)
MOM (c, c) MOM (d , d )

MOM (c, d ) is the product of modal vector C and vector D . So

m
MOM (c, d ) = ∑ C ( j ) D* ( j ) (9)
j =1

m
MOM (d , d ) = ∑ D( j ) D* ( j ) (10)
j =1
 C ( j ) is the element j in row or line c of modal vector matrix; D ( j ) is the

element j in row or line d of modal vector matrix; m is the number of the modal vector

elements.

C is the reference modal vector; D is the calculation modal vector; D* is the

conjugate of modal vector D . [13]
In the calculation, use the formant frequency of the composed ITF as the reference of
modal frequency. Then calculate the modal frequency, modal vector and the MAC. Choose the
one which has biggish MAC (over 90%) as the modal parameter in opposite frequency. If the
modal frequency near some formant frequency is lesser, this model is a local model. After this
step, we have got the final calculated result.

3. Experiment and analysis

3.1. Test system

Use a hammer to impact the test point in a pick-up truck, and then record the impact force
and the interior noise. The test system has been showed below.

Fig.1. The sketch map of test system.

Emplace a microphone on the ear of the driver to measure the sound pressure. Use the
hammer to impact each point in the truck, such as door, window, roof and bridge. The test
points must describe the figure of the truck cab. Impact the test points one by one, and the
response point is immobile. To impact the low frequency model, the head of the hammer is
made of rubber.
 When the truck accelerated, record the interior noise on the ear of the driver. So we got the
frequency pedigree of the interior noise, which has been showed below.

Fig.2. The frequency pedigree of interior noise

Fig.2 is the test result of the sound pressure on the ear of the driver. We can see that in
some low frequencies, there is louder noise in the cab. When the rotate speed was lower, the
noise was louder, and made passengers in the truck feel uncomfortable.

From the Fig.2, we can get the frequency of the main noise as showed in Table 1.

Table 1 The frequency and value of main noise

Frequency [Hz] 26 34 46.5 62

Value [dB(A)] 60.2 54.3 44.5 49.6

3.2. Modal parameter calculation and filtration

Calculating the data with the method mentioned before, we got the SAMA ITF of this
truck cab, and we also composed the ITF which composed without the coherence of input and
output signals. These function curves are showed below.

Composed without coherence Composed with coherence

 Fig.3. The Structure-acoustic ITF

From this figure, we can see that, the ITF composed with coherence has more obvious
formats than the one without coherence and two formats nearby in this curve is easier to
differentiate.

Calculate the modal parameters with the transfer function of each test point by LSCE, [8]
and then filter these modal parameters with the MAC of each model. So we got exacter modal
parameters of the system.

To compare the main interior noise frequencies and the modal frequencies calculated by
the improved method and general method, these frequencies are showed in Table 2

Table 2 Main noise frequency and modal frequency

Modal frequency calculated by Modal frequency calculated by

Main noise frequency (Hz)
improved method (Hz) general method (Hz)

— — 12.9

26 24.5 23.7

— — 29.7

34 34.5 35.0

— — 39.5

48.5 51.3 53.3

62 59.8 57.6

— — 79.6

— — 89.4

From this table, we can see that, composing the ITF with coherences of input and output
signals can reduce the error of the transfer functions of test points, and increase the veracity of
the calculation. The modal frequencies calculated with the improved method has little warp to
the main noise frequencies of the driver’s ear. So this method is effective to reduce the
influence of local model and error signals. And the result shows that, the main interior noise is
booming noise. If we want to reduce the interior noise, we should work on it.

Analyzing these models, we made the modal form sketch of each model as Fig.4. The blue
lines are the original forms of the truck cab. The red lines are the response sound pressure of the
driver’s ear in opposite model.
 a. Modal frequency 24.5 Hz b. Modal frequency 34.5 Hz

c. Modal frequency 51.3 Hz d. Modal frequency 59.8 Hz

Fig.4. Response sound pressure of structure-acoustic modal forms.

From the analysis above, in these modal frequencies near the main noise frequencies, the
front roof of the cab has the biggest response, and the response of the doors is bigger as well.

3.3. Sound pressure contribution of each part in the cab

To control the sound pressure response of the driver’s ear, we need to analyze the
influence of the response sound pressure in each part of this truck cab on these modal
frequencies. So we calculated the sound pressure contribution of the parts that has great modal
form, such as roof, front doors and back doors.

So the sound pressure can be expressed as

l l l N
Air + jBir
PA = ∑ PAi = ∑ Fi ⋅ H Ai = ∑ ( Fi ⋅ ∑ ) (11)
i =1 i =1 i =1 r =1 jω − pr

where PAi is the sound pressure in the driver’s ear which is caused by the point

calculated. And F is the impact force in each point.

So the sound pressure contribution (SPC) of each point Ci can be expressed as the ratio

of the sound pressure on the driver’s ear caused by this point and the total sound pressure on the
driver’s ear.
 PAi
Ci = (12)
PA

Calculating the SPC of every part of the cab in the modal frequencies showed in table 3.

Table 3 The SPC of each part of the cab for the driver’s ear in the modal frequencies.

Modal frequency (Hz) 24.5 34.5 39.8 51.3 59.8

SPC of the roof (%) 16.7 25.8 32.9 25.4 16.8

SPC of the left front door (%) 22.8 13.4 14.1 13.1 21.1

SPC of the right front door (%) 21.4 11.6 13.8 23.9 24.9

SPC of the left back door (%) 8.8 16.9 16.2 14.6 12.4

SPC of the right back door (%) 21.1 23.7 16.5 13.6 16.2

From the table above, we can see that the roof of the cab has greatest SPC for the driver’s
ear in most modal frequencies. So, to improve the noise and vibration of the truck cab, we
should modify the roof of the cab.

3.4. Modification of the cab and influence validation

a. Before modified b. after modified

Fig.5. The test results of the truck accelerating.

We affixed some complex damp materials on the roof of the cab, in order to increase the
damp of this part and reduce the vibration of the roof and sound radiance. Still placed a
microphone on the ear of the driver to measure the sound pressure, before and after affixed the
complex damp materials, we measured the sound pressure on the ear of the driver when the
truck accelerated.

The test results were showed in Fig.5. In the left of Fig.5 is the test result before affixed
the complex damp materials, and the one after affixed is in the right of the figure. From the
figure, we can see that the sound pressure in the main noise frequencies on the ear of the driver
has been reduced after affixed the complex damp materials. The values of main interior noise
frequencies before and after modified the cab has been showed in table 4.

Table 4 The values of main interior noise frequencies before and after modified

Values of noise Values of noise

Main noise frequency (Hz)
before modified (dB) After modified(dB)
26 60.2 55.2
34 54.3 50.1
48.5 44.5 38.3
62 49.6 40.5

We had same tests when the truck was driving on the resonating rotate speed. The sum
levels of sound pressure in these tests are showed below.

Fig.6. The sum levels of the sound pressure on the ear of the driver on the rotate speed

In the figure, the red line on the top is the test result before affixed damp materials, and the
other line is the test result after affixed. After affixed damp materials, the sum level of the sound
pressure on the ear of the driver has been reduced by 3 dB (A).

As showed above, affixing damp materials on the roof of the cab can reduce the interior
noise of this truck cab, and the improved method of composing the ITF is effective and correct.
 4. Conclusion

According to the analysis and calculation, we can come to the conclusion below:

1. Using the coherence as the coefficient to compose the ITF which is used to calculate the
modal parameter can improve the validity and precision of the structure-acoustic modal ITF
effectively.

2. Using the MAC to filter the modal parameter could reduce the influence of local
models.

3. Calculating the sound pressure contribution of each part of the cab can confirm the best
way to modify the truck.

4. According to the calculation result, design the plan to affix complex damp materials on
the roof of the cab, and the test result show that this plan can reduce the peak value of the
interior noise effectively. This result shows that the improved method can distinguish the sound
resource of the interior noise accurately, and gave guarantee to the structure modification.

Thank for the help from the National High Technology Research and Development
Program (‘863’ Program) of China (2006AA110105-3).

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