Prediction of Light Rail Vehicle Noise in running condition using SEA

A complete Light Rail vehicle was modeled with Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) to investigate the airborne and structure-borne noise inside the cabin in running condition. To indentify the complex dynamic behavior of the Body-In-White (BIW) a Finite Element (FE) model was converted into an SEA model and a Virtual SEA (VSEA) method up to 1000 Hz was applied. In parallel an Experimental SEA (ESEA) test was performed on the BIW to identify the damping loss factors (DLF), to generate coupling loss factor (CLF) and input mobility parameters in order to validate the VSEA model. Above 1000 Hz and for the acoustic trim the VSEA model was extended with Analytical SEA (ASEA) method. The final model, which was a combined VSEA/ASEA model from 100 Hz to 5000 Hz, was validated with measurement data. The input data for the model was the averaged sound pressure level in the area of the bogie and the localized constrained accelerations. The difference between the predicted and the measured sound pressure level was less than 2 dB.