Application of the Boundary Element Method and Modal Analysis to Tire Acoustics Problems

Road traffic noise needs to be reduced, because traffic volume is increasing every year. The noise generated from a tire is becoming one of the dominant sources in the total traffic noise because the engine noise is constantly being reduced by the vehicle manufacturers. Although the acoustic intensity measurement technology has been enhanced by the recent developments in digital measurement techniques, repetitive measurements are necessary to find effective ways for noise control. Hence, a simulation method to predict generated noise is required to replace the time-consuming experiments. The boundary element method (BEM) is applied to predict the acoustic radiation caused by the vibration of a tire sidewall and a tire noise prediction system is developed. The BEM requires the geometry and the modal characteristics of a tire which are provided by an experiment or the finite element method (FEM). Since the finite element procedure is applied to the prediction of modal characteristics in a tire noise prediction system, the acoustic pressure can be predicted without any measurements. Furthermore, the acoustic contribution analysis obtained from the post-processing of the predicted results is very helpful to know where and how the design change affects the acoustic radiation. The predictability of this system is verified by measurements and the acoustic contribution analysis is applied to tire noise control.