Optimum reinforcement design of a passenger vehicle door panel to minimise vibrational deformation

Full-scale wind tunnel experiments and analysis using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) are already developed and applied to the research and development processes of current passenger vehicles.(^1) But from the viewpoint of the indoor aspiration noise during high speed driving, the vibration of a passenger vehicle's door frame is a major influence. The vibrational deformation gives rise to aspiration noise, which is airborne sound transmitted through the gap between the door panel frame and the sealing system mounted on the body panel. The optimised design of a passenger vehicle’s door frame can lead us to the minimisation of aspiration noise. The optimisation is carried out by the finite element analysis of the vibration of the passenger vehicle's door panel assembly under steady-state sinusoidal dynamic air pressure. The commercial analysis package ABAQUS((^5-9)) is applied to all analyses in this thesis. The thesis concludes with recommendations for door reinforcement configurations to reduce aspiration wind noise, but such an optimum must be considered in relation to the associated financial costs and weight penalties.