FlowNoiseInEmobiles - Aeroacoustics of confined flows in electric vehicles

The importance of acoustic comfort in electric vehicles is strongly increasing. Due to the fact that main noise sources such as the combustion engine is no longer present, the focus for the acoustic comfort concentrates on acoustic sources, which have been masked by the combustion engine, as well as new acoustic sources arising due to high integration of necessary components. Typical examples are electric vehicles powered by fuel cells. The high integration of all components leads to flow guiding pipes, which are sub-optimal and may result in strong flow induced sound sources. Therefore, a numerical simulation environment capable to predict the flow and acoustic behaviour is of outermost importance. Thereby, possible problems can be detected and the different configurations can be virtually optimized before a first prototype is built. The goal of this research project is the development of a simulation environment, which can precisely compute the sound mechanism in flow guided pipes and its radiation. Thereby, we aim to physically understand the aeroacoustic mechanism, which will allow us to strongly reduce the sources due to geometry changes and material properties. In addition, such a simulation environment will allow us to understand the transfer of the sound through the structures and its radiation. Finally, such a simulation environment will also be able to predict optimal placement of sound absorbing materials. Modelling, numerical simulation and experimental validation of vibro- and aeroacoustic phenomena are in the focus of the research within the division of Technical Acoustics, headed by Manfred Kaltenbacher, at the Institute of Mechanics and Mechatronics of TU Wien (TUW). The Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer at TU Graz is internationally highly recognised for their research on turbulence modelling and for their investigation on Subgrid-Scale (SGS) models and their impact on acoustic sources.