Application of Statistical Energy Analysis on a car: from the vehicle modeling to parts targeting

Original equipment manufacturers generally set their acoustic performance goals at the beginning of a new car project. For the sake of practicability, it is necessary to translate these global targets into components targets. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the application of SEA on a vehicle in the perspective of making parts targeting. First, a review showing the different steps to reach a complete SEA model is presented. The focus is on the computation of absorptions and transmission loss of the SEA panels, the approximations used and how pass-throughs are included in the model. Then the target cascading analysis (TCA) is broached. The TCA is based on the SEA model just engineered. It is an optimization procedure to minimize the difference between a target sound pressure level (SPL) and the SPL reached with improved sound package parts. Results from different projects are shown and a discussion on the handling of multi-targets is also provided.