Behr America Helps Automakers Reduce HVAC Blower Noise

TROY, MI--April 24, 2013:  Behr America, Inc. has developed analysis tools to help automakers reduce climate-control-system blower noise.

The impact of blower noise on interior sound quality is especially critical on hybrid and hybrid-electric vehicles that operate with significantly reduced levels of powertrain noise, according to John Tepas, Behr America's vice president of engineering and Niranjan Humbad, the company's acoustic validation manager.

Behr's new analysis tools are able to predict vehicle noise levels from sub-system measurements, analyzing and combining input from a large number of systems and locations within a vehicle.

Behr also has developed a benchmark database for vehicle and module blower-noise levels for use in establishing and measuring noise-specification targets. The database also can be used to predict driver-location noise based on module-noise measurements taken in Behr's anechoic chamber for a given vehicle segment as defined by the J.D. Power & Associates.

The ability to model noise levels saves manual analysis time by as much as 100 to 200 times in some instances, Tepas notes.

Behr America has developed a new three-dimensional approach for viewing large numbers of sound-quality evaluations as well. Behr's 3-D visual displays saves data analysis- and-reduction time. The visual display of information allows for easier comparison of large data sets. The method also can be used to compare different motor supplier designs or for developmental changes.