b'Automotive | Engineer InnovationFKFS offers highly efficientvehicle development budget is allocated aeroacoustic wind tunnel testing andto acoustic testing to master the final simulation services resulting inNVH performance.immediate vehicle advancementsAdvancing aeroacoustic vehicle FKFS: An important testing facilitydevelopmentwith a long history To counter increasing competition in the The Research Institute of Automotiveworld, where the number of Engineering and Vehicle Enginesaeroacoustic wind tunnels increased in Stuttgart (FKFS) is a well-establishedpast years, FKFS decided to upgrade and research institute providing testing,extend its aeroacoustic testing simulation and consulting services forcapabilities and invest in the latest and the automotive industry. The scope ofunique technology. We are obligated to services comprises three parts:keep up with the competition, and the automotive engineering, powertrain andkey is continuous innovation. Our mechatronics. With extensivecustomers had strong arguments that experience and almost 90 years ofencouraged us to make this step, says history in physical testing andDr. Reinhard Blumrich, head of the simulation, FKFS has established a wideVehicle Acoustics and Vibration range of simulation and testingDepartment at FKFS.capabilities to deal with more or less all parts of a vehicle for differentIn 2019, FKFS replaced the existing development stages. Followingarray-based acoustic mirror with the standardized ISO-certified procedures,latest aeroacoustic testing technology. FKFS today offers, among others,For aeroacoustics, it is still difficult to services of four wind tunnels: full-scalerely only on simulation, explains Dr. aeroacoustics, model scale, thermal andBlumrich. This kind of simulation is very a digital wind tunnel. Some of thecomplex and requires extensive time testing facilities, such as a mechatronicinvestments.driving simulator with two-dimensional sledge and hexapod, is the largest inThe new aeroacoustic wind tunnel Europe. testing system, deployed by Siemens Simcenter experts, consists of top and The objective of the aeroacoustic windside microphone arrays including more tunnel is to understand how the vehiclethan 300 microphones for the exterior design shapes the wind noise perceivedsound pressure measurements as well as in the cabin. To achieve the requiredinterior microphone arrays. This engineering insights, the vehicle ishardware is seamlessly connected with positioned in the full-scale aeroacousticSimcenter Testlab software. Now we wind tunnel at different flow speeds andcan measure in one shot external and under different yaw angles whileinternal noise and correlate the results measuring the exterior sound pressureto see the coherence. Of course, this is radiated by the vehicle surface. Togethermuch faster than before, says Dr. with the interior acousticBlumrich.measurements, these tests unveil the acoustic leaks and points ofNext-generation aeroacoustic wind improvement for attaining drivertunnelcomfort. Unlike the previous generation of the testing equipment, which mapped the Automotive manufacturers understandsound pressure on the vehicle locally, that the vehicle noise, vibration andthe new top and side microphone arrays harshness (NVH) performance definesprovide the 3D representation of the customers perceptions and has a directsound field of the entire vehicle in one impact on the purchase decision. Formeasurement. In 99 percent of the this reason, a significant part of thecases we investigate the final interior 25'