Advanced anisotropic damping modeling for NVH optimization
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e-Xstream engineering | CASE STUDY Advanced anisotropic damping modeling for NVH optimization Mastering the microstructure of composite materials for optimizing NVH performance Overview The Ford Motor Company uses glass fiber reinforced plastic materials for powertrain parts such as engine covers, air intakes and engine oil pans. These materials offer numerous benefits with regards to automotive component design including lightweighting and a better damping compared to metal. However, due to the complexities of the composite material microstructure which arise due to the manufacturing process, both the stiffness and damping of reinforced plastic materials are frequency dependent and locally anisotropic. The efficient design of such components from an NVH perspective requires the use of adapted techniques that can account for these specificities, from the material characterization stage up to the performance prediction of each design iteration. Challenge The challenge can be framed as follows: • How to build a material model capable of capturing the correct local anisotropic stiffness and damping behaviors depending on the frequency and the local fiber orientation? How do the microstructure parameters influence the part’s NVH behavior? The Ford Motor Company can see a great opportunity to employ this technique not only as a predictive simulation methodology but also as a tool to fine-tune the parameters which drive a given part’s microstructure. This brings 2 benefits: • The part’s NVH performance as well as weight will be optimized It reduces the need for corrective actions which typically increase component weight in order to meet acous

'I'm very impressed with the unique adaptive capabilities demonstrated by Digimat as part of our partnership methodology research project with e-Xstream. Use of this software will allow us to optimize the microstructure of design of composite materials in such a way that we can tune for specific NVH requirements. Automotive application of composites is essential for weight reduction, resulting in less fuel consumption and reduction of CO2 emissions. However, at times this may come with some level of degradation in NVH performance. Digimat will allow the engineer to properly model & design...