Tire test stand measurements for blocked forces identification and tire noise auralization

Tire/Road noise is a dominant contribution to a vehicle interior noise. In this paper, we present the process we developed to support automotive OEMs with road noise engineering during vehicle design and development. The process uses blocked forces identified from measurements performed on a single tire installed on a test stand. The forces are then combined with vehicle level transfer functions to predict the sound at the driver ears. The results are imported in a driving simulator for NVH to allow for auralization and sound quality evaluations. The process can be applied from the very early stages of the vehicle development using CAE simulation results and allows to evaluate the vehicle road noise performance long before the first prototype is available.