Characterisation of the Humming-Type Noise and Vibration of the Automotive HVAC System

Abstract

The automotive heating and ventilating air condition (HVAC) system, when vibrating, can generate various types of noises such as humming, hissing, clicking and air-rushes. These noises can be characterised to determine their root causes. In this study, the humming-type noise is taken into consideration whereby the noise and vibration characteristics are measured from various HVAC components such as power steering pump, compressor and air conditional pipe. Four types of measurement sensors were used in this study - tachometer for rpm tracking; accelerometer for the vibration microphone for the noise; and sound camera for the visualization measurement. Two types of operating conditions were taken into consideration - they were “idle” (850 rpm) and “running” (850-1400 rpm) conditions. A constant blower speed was applied for both conditions. The result shows that the humming noises can be determined at the frequency range of 300-350 Hz and 150-250 Hz for both idle and running conditions, respectively. The vibration of the power steering pump shows the worst acceleration of 1.8 m/s2 at the frequency range of 150-250 Hz, compared to the compressor and air conditional pipe. This result was validated with the 3D colour order and sound camera analyses, in which the humming noise colour mapping shows dominance in this frequency range.

Quality Study on Vehicle Heat Ventilation and Air Conditioning Failure

“…With vibrations, an HVAC heating and ventilation system generates various sounds, such as whistling or humming. This type of noise can identify and determine the causes of problems [4]. Several failure modes have been investigated by measuring and controlling the requirements of air flow, power, temperature, and pressure gradients in a vehicle's HVAC [5].…”