Quieter cabin and environment inside are important areas of success for any automobile as both are vital aspects of passenger comfort. On the contrary cabin air leakage can adversely affect these two areas to a greater extent. Air from the passenger cabin finds its way to the outer environment through the gaps formed in assembly interfaces and BIW, which is unintended and unrestricted air-leakage referred to as cabin air leakage. Same way may be followed by outer smell and noise, which directly affects the environment of cabin. Unintended air leakage is having some indirect effects such as reduction in the efficiency of HVAC cooling-heating causes excessive compressor engagement thus dropping fuel efficiency of the vehicle. Identifying accurate leakage paths and deploying suitable counteraction results in tangible benefits such as silent cabin, improved passenger environment and also adds up intangible benefit as higher fuel efficiency. In this paper, we used “Elimination methodology” to carry out the air leakage study on passenger vehicles, in which at static condition vehicle cabin is pressurized with air with the help of BLT (body leak test) machine and leakages were identified with help of stethoscope and soap water. Smoke machines can also be used for initial cabin leakage analysis. Later leakages and gaps were eliminated one by one by applying silicon sealant or putty thus getting the individual leakage contribution as well as final improvement value which can be achieved. The improvement in air leakage by 29% (254 CFM to avg. 180 CFM) is achieved through design modification of seals, BIW, application of expandable strips, plugs, closed-cell foam, stickers at various levels of manufacturing.
Quieter Cabin Through Reduction in Uncontrolled Vehicle Air Leakage and Controlling Actions at Various Levels
Lect.Notes Mechanical Engineering
Innovative Design, Analysis and Development Practices in Aerospace and Automotive Engineering ; Chapter : 32 ; 303-310
2020-09-27
8 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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