Keeping you up to speed

1st February 2012

ES Admin

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Assessing vehicle noise is a faster and easier process with the launch of Brüel & Kjær’s latest data analysis software platform: PULSE 16.1. This update for Brüel & Kjær’s PULSE analyser system has many new features, including improved Source Path Contribution (SPC) technology with time-domain insight and Exterior Sound Simulator software.

By using SPC technology, testers can verify the contributions of individual noise sources to exterior receivers, easily highlighting the dominating source for a given receiver. This analysis can help all vehicle manufacturers identify the main pass-by noise sources, listen to the individual contributions, reduce contributions from particular sources and see how it affects the total result.
There is also an Indoor Pass-by with Contribution Analysis, which combines conventional testing of pass-by noise - for indoor pass-by facilities - with the possibility for users to quantify the contribution of individual sources at the 7.5 m ISO microphone position, utilising the Source Path Contribution technology.

The software is designed for simplicity and speed, making it ideal for technicians to carry out indoor pass-by tests. This could - for example - involve taking each engine face (the intake orifice and the exhaust orifice) as individual sources. The system then uses transfer functions to calculate the sound field for all the different receiver positions. Using multiple receivers allows the tester to perform an indoor pass-by assessment, before sending the data on for analysis by the automotive engineers.
The Source Path Contribution - Time Insight software allows users to listen to SPC results, switch paths on and off, listen over a certain time or RPM range, compare different sets of results back-to-back - and apply filters. They can also create many different scenarios and listen to what the product could sound like if certain modifications were made.

Brüel & Kjær has also launched PULSE Exterior Sound Simulator (ESS). This is a new module for the Desktop NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness) Simulator suite, which is used for auralising simulated exterior sounds that would be experienced by pedestrians. It is useful for engineers when designing and evaluating the sounds of Quiet Vehicles - such as electric and hybrid cars - and tuning the exterior sound quality of internal combustion engine vehicles.