MID-FREQUENCY · CAE Methodologies for Mid-Frequency Analysis in Vibration and Acoustics

Effective and efficient vibration and acoustic analysis, modelling and design methods are required to produce world-leading products with good noise and vibration performance. Noise and vibration levels must remain within safe limits, there are issues regarding human comfort and a need for robust, optimal, efficient designs. There is also an increasing trend towards virtual design and prototyping, to reduce costs and development times. For all these reasons good analysis and modeling tools are essential. Ideally such tools would be applicable over the whole frequency range of interest, which is the audio-frequency range for automotive and aerospace structures, for instance. In practice, specific methods are applicable in a limited frequency region. Finite element analysis (FEA) is a “low frequency” method which is both well developed and well established. At “high frequencies” statistical energy analysis (SEA) is a valuable, but less well-established, tool. There is however a “mid-frequency” gap in our modelling capabilities: too high for FEA, too low for SEA. This is important, since it strongly affects product performance and competitiveness, and forms the target for this ITN. Substantial challenges exist in this “mid-frequency” range. New analysis approaches are essential to produce world-leading products. This ITN brings together academic and industrial partners who will together host researchers, drawing together skills and expertise in a range of different technical approaches. The industrial partners bring specific applications, behind which are generic difficulties associated with the mid-frequency region. The academic partners bring a diverse range of potential research approaches and the capability of research training, provision of courses and dissemination to the wider community. Together they can develop and promote research, knowledge and application of mid-frequency vibration and acoustics analysis techniques within EU industry.