Design and Characterization of a Test Bench For Interior Noise Investigations

The increasing demand for acoustic comfort in vehicles has popularized the vibroacoustic analysis using computer aided engineering (CAE) tools and boosted the development of various noise control measures. Concerning the often-unknown reliability of a CAE tool and the high cost of testing control strategies in a real vehicle, this paper proposes a test bench called Noise-Box, for benchmarking the CAE tools and testing new control measures. The test bench is designed towards a simple plate-cavity system that is easy to model and analyze, so that any vibroacoustic test performed on it can be accurately reproduced by numerical models. Specifically, it is a concrete box with six rigid walls and an opening that can be covered by flexible or soundproofing panels. The complete design is elaborated, including the cavity’s shape and dimensions, the panel’s installation and the device’s overall configuration. Moreover, the acoustic field provided by the test bench is characterized for the typical features that will guide the device’s future applications, covering modal property, reverberation time (or sound absorption) and field diffuseness. This work could be informative and instructive not only for the presentation of the novel test bench but also for the utilized methodologies in its design and characterization.