J. Sound P-Z%.

(1964) I (Z), 202-210

A REVIEW OF NOISE AND VIBRA’PION IN MOTOR CARS

G. M. L. GLADWELL

Institute qf Sound and Vibration Research,

University of Sozcthanlpton

(Received IO October 1963)

This is a review of published research work on the vibration and noise in motor cars, as it
affects the passengers. The review considers the work of various motor car manufacturers,
comparative investigations, theoretical studies and the reports of the Motor Industry
Research Association. It is shown that British car manufacturers have much to learn
from European and American firms, and some of the more pressing needs are highlighted.
In some ways the review is selective and reflects the writer’s interest. Particular attention
is paid to the study of the noise caused from the passage of the tyres over the road, the way
in which it is transmitted through the car structure and possible ways of preventing it
being heard by the passengers. This involves a discussion of suspension systems and the
mechanical acoustic properties of the passenger compartment.

I. INTRODUCTION

The published research on noise and vibration in motor cars divides quite naturally into
four categories. First there are reports from various motor car manufacturers in which
they describe their experiences in grappling with, and sometimes solving, noise and
vibration problems. This constitutes by far the largest group of papers. Secondly, there
are reports of comparative investigations into noise levels in various makes of cars at
various speeds and under varying conditions. Thirdly, there are one or two papers describ-
ing a more theoretical approach to the problems of noise and vibration and finally there
are the reports and abstracts issued by the Motor Industry Research Association. These
groups of papers will now be discussed in turn. No mention will be made in this review
of the subject of engine noise; this matter will be discussed by T. Priede in the next number
of this Journal.

2. REPORTS ON THE EXPERIENCES OF AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS

The word “automobile” is used instead of “car” since almost all the reports originate
from America, where manufacturers seem to be more aware of the part which can be
played by research. One of the earliest reports (McGregor and Bollinger, (I)) describes
the research facilities and programme at the Ford Motor Co. works at Dearborn, Michigan.
This well written paper is a child’s guide to the subject, mentioning most of the problem
areas in the field.
First the distinction is made between periodic noise, that is noise of a definite pitch,
and unpitched or random noise. The two kinds of noise arise from different sources and
require quite different treatment. The periodic type of noise is the most noticeable and
annoying to the car’s occupants. It usually arises from some resonance and the source
of the trouble must be found by linking its frequency with that of the various possible
sources-engine unbalance, drive shaft unbalance, wheel and tyre eccentricities, acces-
sories such as heater, etc. The writers comment as follows: “A general attack on this sort
202
 NOISE AND VIBRATION IN MOTOR CARS 203
of problem is to find the resonating part, and then either raise or lower the resonance out
of the critical speed range, or damp the component vibration to a point where it is no
longer offensive.”
The writers go on to say, “While these steps may seem easy, carrying them out is
hampered by an additional criterion, namely that noise control changes must not affect
other characteristics of the car such as handling, style and cost.” This is undoubtedly the
experience of research staffs in almost all car manufacturing firms.
The other kind of noise, random or unpitched noise, arises from such sources as wind,
road roughness, engine machinery, fan and driveline bearings. Reduction of this type of
noise may be achieved by ( I ) re d ucing or eliminating the noise at its source, (2) isolating
the source or breaking the transmission path from the source to the passenger compart-
ment, and (3) absorbing the sound in the passenger compartment. The writers say:
“Reducing or eliminating the noise at its source is often an ideal solution, but as in the
case of the periodic noises, can rarely be accomplished. For example, one way to reduce
wind noise would be to design an aerodynamically clean vehicle; but this would seriously
interfere with fixed style plans. Isolating the vibrating part on the other hand is an
extremely effective method. For example, road noises can be reduced by a good suspension
design which isolates the vibration from the rest of the car.” The writers go on to discuss
the various acoustical materials which are available for preventing the transmission of
noise, deadening and absorbing sound. They also describe the various facilities, such as
anechoic chambers, chassis and engine dynamometers which are invaluable tools in car
noise research.
The work at the Ford Motor Co. is the subject of a paper by Hooven (2). This technical
paper is concerned with ways in which troubles arising from engine and propeller shaft
vibrations were tackled for the unit-construction Lincoln, Thunderbird and Falcon cars.
A summary of this paper appears in (3). Farnham (4, 5) of the Chrysler Corporation
describes a “ Speaker Panel Test ” which they use to eliminate road noise audible in
the car. The object of the test is to detect offending panels so that they can be treated
with sound deadening material in such a way as to alter their natural frequencies out
of the range of road noise frequencies. They found that roof and floor panels required
greater changes than were possible through the addition of deadening material and they
had to add structural stiffeners. As a comment on this paper it may be noted that in order
to make such a treatment effective one must know the spectrum of noise resulting from
the passage of the car over the road. Such information is now available as the result
of work by Chiesa and his colleagues at Pirelli. This matter is discussed later in this
review.
Bouquet, at one time Director of Research at the Peugeot Laboratories in France,
describes some of their work in a very interesting paper (6). One of the most striking aspects
of the work at Peugeot is the extensive use that is made of analogue computers. It may be
instructive to quote from part of the paper dealing with mechanical vibrations. “When a
certain solution to a suspension problem-car suspension or suspension of the engine in
the car-is under discussion, both theoretical and experimental studies are nearly always
conducted. Early experimental results are used to devise a model of the whole system,
showing only the most important phenomena. From this model it is possible to derive
mathematical equations which, in their turn, are used in an analogue computer. In some
cases an electrical analogue can be built if the model is simple enough. As far as the
theoretical solution is concerned, its first results are used to modify the model to have a
closer approach to reality, if such is necessary. By comparing, step by step, the theoretical
results and experimental measurements, it is possible to devise a definite model as precise
and accurate as required, which leads to the best solution for the car.
204 C. M. L. CLXI)IVI:LI

“We have treated in this way a problem of vibrations of the front axle, and certain
characteristics had to be modified in order that the driver would not feel ali the irregularities
of the road through the steering wheel or front floor “. The paper also describes investiga-
tions that led to the use of a dynamic absorber for engine vibrations which were exciting a
body cavity resonance, and the methods that are used to study bending and torsional
oscillations of the car. Summaries of the paper are given in (7) and (8).
McDaniel (9) discusses some of the work carried out by the General Motors Corpora-
tion. This is a well written, general paper, on the lines of (I). At the end of the paper the
writer says “Insofar as the future is concerned, we hope to conduct a noise reduction
program strictly on the basis of mathematical analysis. This would involve the theoretical
determination of natural vibrational frequencies and amplitudes of complete vibrational
systems. The effort here would be to pinpoint troublesome areas and to forecast their
potential noise generating effects upon car driver and passengers and, further, to
analyse modifications for their corrective effect-all this while the car is essentially still
on the drawing board.

I ‘, !

40 ““I00 500 IOOC 2000

Frequency cc/s;

Figure I. Examples of noise spectra. Those for cars A, B, C at several speeds with microphone
at front head position. (Adapted from Figure I of (14)).

“This may appear to be idealistic. However, with the studies which have been made,
and the development currently being conducted in computer technology, it would appear
to be well within the realm of possibility.”
The work being carried out at General Motors is the subject of a further article by
Bonvallet (IO). This article, as its title suggests, is concerned with the various instruments
that are available for vibration work. Special mention is made of driveline torsional
vibrations and how these can be studied with the aid of an analogue computer. The
General Motors’ new laboratory at Milford, Michigan is described in a short article in the
Vauxhall trade magazine (I I).
 NOISE AND VIBRATION IN MOTOR CARS 205

Finally, it may be noted that there are articles on automobile noise and automobile
vibration respectively in the HandbooK of Noise Control (I z) and the Shock and Vibration
Handbook (13).

3. COMPARATIVE INVESTIGATIONS

The first, and classic paper describing comparative noise tests on different cars is that
by Bristow (14). This was written in 1951 when he was research manager of the Motor
Industry Research Association. The paper begins with some comments on the relation
between subjective and objective estimates of noisiness and then describes the tests that
were undertaken. First, each of the three cars was run at each of a number of prede-
termined speeds, ranging from 30 to 50 m.p.h., and the spectra of the noises inside each
car were determined. The spectrum of a noise, of course, gives the amounts in which
sound of different frequencies contribute to the overall noise. Examples of noise spectra
are shown in Figure I. Bristow comments as follows : “The . . . noise spectra of the three
cars show that car A not only has a lower overall noise-level than either of the other two,
but also has a lower spectrum level at all frequencies, speeds, and microphone positions.
Hence it is deduced that car A is much the quietest of the three. And, moreover, the
spectra for car A are, in general, less peaky than those for the other two cars, which, it is
held, indicates that the annoyance is less. Subjectively, car A was undoubtedly much the
quietest of the three.” Second, octave band analyses were made at various speeds, and
curves were plotted showing the amount of noise in each band at each speed, as in Figure 2.
Concerning these, Bristow remarks, “ It is held that the irregularities of these curves are,
more or less irrespective of absolute loudness, an indication of the relative noisiness of
vehicles, so far as annoyance is concerned; the more irregular the curves the noisier does
the vehicle appear and also the more annoying the noise. Irregular increase of noise-level,
with speed, in itself is annoying, but probably of equal importance is the annoyance
caused by the character of the noise changing with speed. If the curves are “parallel ” to
each other, in the sense that the irregularities in noise level mirror one another at all
frequencies (for example, as do the curves for the upper frequency bands for car B) then
only noise level, and not its character, is affected. If the curves diverge noticeably from
each other in shape (for example, the curves for car C) then the character of the noise
changes with speed, but overall noise-level may, or may not, change.”
Comparative noise tests on a Moskvitch 407, an Opel, a Vauxhall Victor Super and a
Simca have been carried out by two Russian investigators (IS). Their findings were
similar to those of Bristow. A detailed investigation of the effect of tyre construction on
road-excited body noise has been carried out by investigators at M.I.R.A. (16). They
give one third octave analyses of the road-excited body noise measured in various cars,
fitted with various tyres. The parameters they take into account include tread pattern,
cord material, crown angle, types of rubber, road surface and pressure.
A detailed investigation into the vertical vibration behaviour of various cars is reported
by Chiesa and Oberto (17). In this paper the main vertical vibrations of a running car
are first divided into categories, according to which frequency range they fall into.
Then it is shown how the various kinds of vibration may be identified from the frequency
spectra of the accelerations of various parts of the car when it is running on smooth or
uneven roads. Many such spectra were found and are presented in the paper. Special
mention is made of the low frequency vertical oscillations of the car body (in the range
I to 3 c/s), the middle frequency vertical oscillations (5 to 40 c/s) of the suspension
and the body, and the high frequency oscillations (40 to 250 c/s) caused by the natural
oscillations of the tyres and by the engine and transmission.
 octave
band (c/s)
oo- 800-1600
-I
600-1200,
2 I
600-1200 400-8CIO 400-800

I- 300-60 0
I
4OG-800 30G--6CC~~

300-600
200-40 0 200-4'::J
150-300

100-20~
3

75-m
)/
’ 50-100 -i
50-100
I

37-5-7s
I

OWOII
flat

1
&-- 60 2s 30 3; *r-&-Tk&-- 60
Real speed (m.p.h.1
CarA
Figure 2.
Car B
Speed analysis for cars A, B, C at front head position. (Adapted
1from Figure 3 of (14)).
 NOISE AND VIBRATION IN MOTOR CARS
207
4. THEORETICAL APPROACHES

Kohr (18) of General Motors describes a simulator devised for ride analysis. It com-
prises (i) a variable speed tape recorder to provide two road wave signals simulating the
inputs of the front and rear wheels, (ii) an analogue computer which determines the
car body motion resulting from the inputs and (iii) a motion simulator which reproduces
this motion on an actual car body in which passengers can be seated. The paper gives a
detailed discussion of all the components and includes the equations of motion which are
used in setting up the analogue computer. A summary is given in (19).
A very readable introduction to the statistical analysis of the random vertical motion
resulting from the passage over a road is given by Chiesa (20). A brief mathematical
paper on the random vibration of a vehicle has been given by Bieniek (21). Chiesa has
written a number of other papers on theoretical aspects of the subject including
(22)-(24).
Three Japanese workers have written about the cavity resonance which is associated
with the boom phenomenon (25). They present a theoretical analysis of the resonance of a
rather simplified model of a car interior, a description of experiments carried out with a
two-dimensional longitudinal section of a car interior in which the mode patterns were
identified by using cork particles, and certain experiments in which a Helmholtz resonator
was used in an attempt to get rid of the boom. This is the first attempt at the analysis of
car boom, but it leaves much to be desired. Finally, a Dutch research worker, van Eldik
Thieme, has discussed riding comfort criteria (26). He gives a large bibliography on that
subject. There is also a M.I.R.A. report on this subject (27).

5. M.I.R.A. REPORTS

The Motor Industry Research Association has been working in the field of noise and
vibration for a dozen years or so. The reports on its work are initially confidential to the
member firms, but are later issued for general circulation. There are five of their reports
relevant to this review of which two (I 6, 27), have already been mentioned.
Mills and Dixon (28) describe some early experiments to investigate road excited body
noise, or “road roar “. They found that, for all the cars they tested, the noise level was
higher at the rear passenger head position than at the front head position. Thinking that
this could be explained by the existence of a longitudinal standing wave with a node
at the front position and an antinode at the rear they hunted for such waves and found
some evidence for their existence. In one of the experiments they carried out they
placed an air-tight hardboard partition across the width of the car behind the front seat.
The object of this experiment was to double the fundamental normal frequency of any
longitudinal standing waves present. However, the results were inconclusive, partly
because the partition acted as a radiating surface, and partly because the only filters they
had were octave filters, rather than one third octave ones. This inconclusive work is
mentioned to show, if this can be done in a few words, how baflling the problem of noise
inside a car cavity is. The problem is a complex one with mechanical and acoustical
aspects, and the two parts seem to be closely coupled. The noise produced in the car
interior by passage over the road is caused by vibration coming from the wheels along
various paths through the structure to various parts of the surfaces adjacent to the car
interior. These surfaces vibrate to radiate noise and drive the air vibrations within the
cavity. It is not possible to eliminate the noise by stiffening or damping the panels
indefinitely.
Stiffening or damping the panels indefinitely would merely accentuate the acoustic
air resonances-and anyway such stiffening or damping would be prohibitive in cost.
208 G. bl. L. GLAI)\YELI.

Mills and Dixon conclude: “ Regarding the reduction of road roar there appear to be two
approaches when considering vehicles of unitary construction. Firstly, the most funda-
mental approach is to reduce the energy fed into the body, by introducing some attenuating
medium into the path by which the energy is transmitted from the point of contact with
the road to the body. In considering this approach it should be remembered that a re-
duction of 3 dB in sound pressure level requires a reduction of 50~:;; in energy; that the
effect of any attenuating medium introduced between the exciting members and the
body may be impaired by the by-passing effect of the steering linkages, etc., and that the
permissible deflections must be kept very small if the steering characteristics of the vehicle
are not to be impaired.
“Secondly, considering noise reduction treatment which may be applied to the body
itself, it is apparent from the spectrum of the offending noise that absorption would be
impossible because of the low frequencies involved. A possible approach may be to reduce
the actual movement of the body panels by which the noise is radiated, by the application
of damping materials or increasing the mass of the panels. Any panels which were found
to radiate at their natural frequency might be stiffened with advantage, thus increasing
their natural frequency and making absorption of the radiated sound a more practical
proposition.
“The foregoing remarks should be treated only as suggestions since further work is
projected in which the effect of panel treatment will be investigated together with the
effect of discontinuities in the path of energy transmission.
“ It is thought that a useful reduction in the noise due to road roar will only be brought
about by the total effect of a number of modifications, each of which may, in itself, produce
only a small decrease of noise level.”
The second M.I.R.A. report relevant to this review is that by Mills, Dixon and
Lavender (29). This is a report of some very careful investigations into the effectiveness
of various damping treatments in different circumstances. Three sets of tests were carried
out to determine how far the application of damping compounds to the panels of a car
could reduce the noise due to (i) the slamming of a door (ii) the dropping of a ball
bearing on the roof (to simulate the noise caused by rain drops) (iii) road excitation. The
results were compared with those obtained by using a standard test in which the damping
compound was applied to a resonating bar. This paper merits a careful reading by anyone
concerned with damping materials.
In a later paper (30), Dixon describes a further series of experiments aimed at ascer-
taining the acoustic characteristics of the body cavity of a car and the mechanical trans-
mission characteristics of the structure. In order to examine the acoustics of the car cavity,
the air-mass inside the body was excited by means of a loudspeaker located in the corner
formed by the front toeboard and a nearside panel. A condenser microphone was placed
at the grid intersections of a mesh in the head plane and an automatic frequency sweep
from 30 c/s to 300 c/s was applied to the loudspeaker.
The results were analysed using one third octave band filters based on 40, so, 64, 80,
IOO, 125, 160,200 and 250 c/s. The results were displayed by plotting the sound-pressure
level obtained in each filter in a three-dimensional graph having the mesh points in the
x-3 plane and sound pressure level measured in the x-direction. It was found that the
sound pressure pattern varies considerably with frequency but that the front passenger
head position lies favourably near a node while the rear passenger head position nearly
always coincides with an antinodal point.
The mechanical transmission paths from the wheels to the cavity were investigated by
applying a vibrator to the front and rear axles in turn. It was found that, in the frequency
range 40 to I 60 c/s, the transmission path via the front suspension (which for the particular
 NOISE AND VIBRATION IN MOTOR CARS 209
car tested was an independent suspension using coil springs and wishbones) was of greater
importance than the transmission path via the rear suspension (which consisted of a rigid
axle and semi-elliptic leaf springs). An exception to this occurred over a narrow frequency
band near 80 c/s when the two transmission paths were of similar importance.
In these studies vibrators were used not only to excite the axle in the vertical plane, but
also in the horizontal plane. This was done because it was found that, except in the narrow
frequency band referred to above, the horizontal component of vibration from the road
surface was of similar magnitude to the vertical component. It was found that the sound
pressure level was influenced by the horizontal component and it was suggested that
consideration might profitably be given to the horizontal component in noise reduction
work.
At the end of the paper Dixon reports on some experiments which have been made to
synthesize a spectrum which may be fed to the axles to simulate road running conditions.
As a footnote to this section it should be mentioned that M.I.R.A. has published a
useful collection of abstracts of papers on noise from motor vehicles (31).

6. CONCLUSIONS

In this rather hurried review of the literature it has been possible to give only a brief
glimpse of the research climate in the field. The field is one where greater and greater
demands are being made on those concerned. Their task is continually being made harder
by innovations in car design, of which the use of unit construction cars having lower
inherent damping, and the use of more powerful engines running nearer their maximum
efficiency, are but two.
More work must be done to make the investigation of the vibration and noise charac-
teristics of a new design much less lengthy and much more automatic, by the perfecting
of analogue computer methods, for example. There is also much to be learnt about the
interaction between the acoustic and mechanical characteristics of a car, the way in which
acoustic vibrations couple with panel vibrations, and how noise is transmitted into and
through a structure. These are some of the problems which have to be faced.

REFERENCES

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construction.
3. F. J. HOOVEN 1960 S.A.E.J. 68,83-Q. Noise and vibration in unitised cars. (Abstract of earlier
article.).
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of earlier article.)
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(Abstract of earlier article.)
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210 G. M. L. GLADWELL

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