Improving transmission loss performance of aluminum extrusion in railway vehicles using lightweight material

This study developed a method for improving the transmission loss performance of aluminum extrusion by reinforcing the inner space of the extruded material with a lightweight material, such as acrylic plastic. First, the dynamic characteristics of the aluminum extrusion were analyzed, and the characteristics of noise transmission were evaluated through an acoustic mode analysis of the air layer for the inner space of the extruded material. Furthermore, to improve the transmission loss performance of the aluminum extrusion, methods were developed for increasing the vibration stiffness and altering the acoustic mode of the inner space. Additionally, a simulation analysis of the vibration mode and a response analysis based on the excitation of sound were performed to validate the proposed model; the effectiveness of the model for noise and vibration reduction was compared with that of the existing model. This analysis was conducted using models wherein the acrylic plastic was partially and totally inserted into the interior space of aluminum extrusion. The results indicated that the noise performance of the short reinforcement model with the partially inserted acrylic plastic was improved by 3 dB and that of the long reinforcement model with the totally inserted acrylic plastic was degraded by > 4 dB compared with the existing aluminum panel.