Experimental characterization of instrument panel buzz, squeak, and rattle (BSR) in a vehicle

Among the various elements affecting a customer's evaluation of automobile quality, buzz, squeak, and rattle (BSR) are considered to be major factors. We propose an integrated experimental method that can be used to reduce BSR in an instrument panel module in a vehicle cabin, especially during the early design stage of vehicle development. We devised a vibration triggering system consisting of a fixture and an electromagnetic shaker to generate an input load reproducing the excitation signal from the road to the instrument panel without distortion. Potential source regions for BSR were localized using a near-field acoustic holography map obtained from near-acoustic-field visualization equipment consisting of 48 intensity-type microphones, a data-acquisition system, and its analysis software. Finally, a sound quality evaluation of BSR from the detected potential source regions was performed using sound quality metrics. These experimental procedures were applied to characterize BSR from the instrument panel in a passenger vehicle. Based on our measurements and analysis, typical main source regions for BSR on the instrument panel were identified and quantitatively evaluated in terms of physical levels and sound quality metrics. These results revealed that the proposed experimental procedure can be used as a test procedure to identify BSR issues at an early stage in the vehicle development cycle, which could ultimately reduce production costs. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.