Automotive NVH damping and isolation materials: effectively targeting noise and vibration.

Wolverine’s Active Vibration Damping Technology drives improved NVH performance without significant increases in mass and cost. Through strategic placement and a smaller, selective damping material application, Wolverine NVH solutions dissipate vibrational energy in structures and isolate equipment from shock and vibration. We also offer a wide range of material choices as well as expertise that can be specifically customized to your application.

Strategic Damping vs. Mass Coverage

There are a number of traditional NVH reduction strategies available, including the complete redesign of an engine component, or the addition of expensive components such as noise-absorbing foam. Compared to these traditional damping strategies, the strategic placement of Wolverine’s RCM doesn’t require a complete re-design because our materials can target and tune a finished product over a wide frequency bandwidth. It also provides very effective acoustic treatments as well as high-performance isolation capabilities. And the unsurpassed bond integrity of elastomer to metal (chemically bonded vs. laminated) adds durability and extended life to an engine component.

We start by locating the source path of the NVH problem and then isolate it with damping materials. This targeted approach helps to minimize material usage and weight, and addresses limited package space needs. The strategic placement of isolated strips also significantly reduces costs. It is an approach that creates damping solutions that are equal to, and often exceed, the results achieved with more traditional mass coverage methods.

We create optimal solutions through our consistent and rigorous engineering approach, which encompasses:

  1. Baseline system operating vibration and acoustic response signature mapping
  2. Comparative analysis of baseline to target levels to identify performance gaps
  3. Structural/acoustic coherency identification and modal/transfer path decomposition
  4. Subsystem, component and path ranking for NVH material and product selection
  5. System modification, NVH refinement and final target verification