An equivalent modelling approach for vibroacoustic characteristics analysis of railway aluminium extrusion

Abstract

For railway carbody structures with irregular cross-sectional shapes and great longitudinal lengths, it is difficult to obtain their vibroacoustic characteristics using traditional computational methods. Moreover, traditional methods are time intensive and not conducive to the optimisation design of such complex and large structures. This study introduces an equivalent modelling approach for vibroacoustic analysis, i.e., sound transmission loss and sound radiation analysis, of railway aluminium extrusion. The aluminium extrusion is equivalent to a homogeneous orthotropic plate, and the equivalent mechanical properties of the plate are obtained via static analysis based on the small-deflection theory. The vibroacoustic characteristics are obtained using the hybrid method of finite element and statistical energy analysis. First, the equivalent modelling approach is validated using the results of a detailed prediction model and experimental test. Subsequently, the applicability of the equivalent approach is analysed by comparing it to the predicted results of the detailed model with different dimensions and boundary conditions. Ultimately, the minimum longitudinal length that needs to be considered for the analysis of railway aluminium extrusion is discussed using the equivalent approach and the computational efficiency is compared. The results reveal that the equivalent approach can effectively simulate the vibroacoustic performances of the aluminium extrusion in 1/3 octave bands centred below 1000 Hz and reduce the calculation time by 90% compared with the detailed prediction models of aluminium extrusion, which provided a foundation for vibroacoustic optimisation design of railway carbody structures.