Active Damping of the Boom Noise Originated by Structural Vibration  (315)

Large vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles and minivans, suffer from "impact boom," which occurs when the vehicle is driven over rough road surfaces that excite a high level of boom noise in the interior of the vehicle. The boom noise is due to the vibroacoustic resonance of the cabin interior. Structural dynamics of the roof and the acoustic dynamics of the cavity are the elements of this vibroacoustic system.

The University of Dayton's active boom noise damping (U.S. Patent 5,974,155) eliminates/reduces the cavity originated resonance (for which it is designed) but may or may not affect the cavity resonance due to the roof vibration. Active damping of the roof vibration-originated cavity resonance is the subject of this technology which augments the University's active acoustic damping scheme (U.S. Patent 5,974,155).

The technology works in conjunction with the original acoustic damping compensator (U.S. Patent 5,974,155) and shares the same control speaker. It uses structural vibrations (measured acceleration using low-cost MEMS accelerometers similar to the ones used in air bag systems) of the middle and rear panels of the roof of a large vehicle as the sensory input. Objective and subjective measurements clearly indicate the effectiveness of the technology in terms of adding damping to the first vibroacoustic mode. The reasonable cost of the control strategy, along with its high effectiveness, makes this technology a very viable boom noise controller.

For more information, please contact the Office for Technology Partnerships at 937-229-3515.

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