Virtual Car Sound (VCS) is an interactive, real-time sound synthesis environment that establishes the link between the interior sound quality and the underlying structural and acoustic phenomena in a car. VCS can be considered as an innovative technology, allowing acoustic engineers and designers to listen to their car from the initial stages of development, to study the perceptual influence of sound signal components and transfer paths, to auralize structural design and modal modifications and to design target sounds. The real-time sound synthesis is based on compact models, including networks of vibro-acoustic transfer paths, operational loads and sound sources. Such models can be experimental, CAE or even hybrid.
In this paper a number of examples are presented, illustrating the sound synthesis approach and structural design modification capabilities. The paper also presents the results of an exploratory study in which the sound quality effect of mount stiffness uncertainty in a car body assembly model is assessed.
