EXPERIMENT AND EVALUATION STUDY ON RATTLE NOISE IN AUTOMOTIVE SEAT SYSTEM

With the reduction of vehicle interior noise, the Buzz, Squeak and Rattle (BSR) noises have become an intractable problem that needs to be tackled urgently. Seat system rattle noises have a large contribution to the passengers’ complaints, due to the close distance between the passengers and seats. The seat structure and its components can be sources of rattle noise based on their physical characteristics. The aim of the present paper is to characterize the sound quality property of rattle noise in seat system, and subsequently, use the characteristics of the rattle noises to assess the subjective responses to the noise. In this study, sound metrics are computed for the signals recorded at different points in the seat system. To be more specific, the signals are recorded before and after the durability test in different loading states. Consequently, the characteristics of the rattle noises were compared and analyzed, and the jury test was performed. On this basis, a rattle index and evaluation models were developed. It is expected that the developed rattle evaluation system and sound quality index can be used to reduce the automotive interior rattle noise in terms of subjective levels as well as objective levels.