Door Closing Sound Quality Methodology - Airborne and Structural Path Contributions

The intent of this paper is to document comprehensive test-based approach to analyze the door-closing event and associated sound using structural and acoustic loads developed during the event. This study looks into the door-closing phenomenon from the structural interaction point of view between the door and the body of the vehicle. The study primarily focuses on distributing the door and body interaction as discrete multiple structural and acoustic phenomena. It also emphasizes on the structural and acoustic loads developed by the discretized interactions at the interfaces between the door and the body frame. These interfaces were treated to be the load paths from the door to the body. The equivalent structural and acoustic loads were calculated indirectly using the well-known Transfer Path Analysis (TPA) methodology for structural loads and the Acoustic Source Quantification (ASQ) methodology for acoustic loads. Considering the transient nature of the door-closing event, a time domain TPA methodology was also developed to study the loads being developed between the latch, the striker and the different interfaces of the door frame to the body structure. Similarly the equivalent acoustic loads were developed at the interfaces between the door frame and the body. Computed time domain and frequency domain loads were used to perform a partial contribution analysis from different paths and identify the contribution of the structural and acoustic loads and paths on the target response at the center of the operator's ear (COE) located the outside of the vehicle.