When purchasing a car, alongside many other aspects, an important consideration for the customer is how it feels to drive inside the cabin. The design of the cabin plus the additional features such as audio, seating comfort, and control layout all add to the feel of the car and the experience the customer has in it. Therefore, if NVH is impacting this experience, it’s crucial that the OEM considers how best to reduce this.
NVH stands for Noise, Vibration, Harshness, and is used to classify the noise and vibrations created usually by automotive vehicles. This can be the sound of the vibrations but also the feel of it.
Robafoam’s foam has been used within the automotive industry for many years, with over 30% of our customer base being within the industry. Often our seals are chosen when customers are looking to provide a barrier for water ingress. However, it also performs well as a way of reducing noise and vibration within vehicles. As always our foam can be adapted to the desired part however, NVH applications tend to require softer foam (with more air entrained in the raw material) and a smaller bead. The softer foam allows for more dynamic movement of the parts without damaging them, acting almost as a lubricant. A lower compressive force is also needed, only requiring around 10-20% compression.
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The seals can also be directly bonded to the parts to make sure that the pad will not move out of place which creates a perfect gasket or cushion application. Our foam is applied wet to the part, secured in place, and then cured to bond the substrates together.
NVH can also cover light bleeds, such as on a car dashboard or door panel, ensuring all small gaps or cracks aren’t visible to the customer and therefore providing a higher quality finish.
For more information about how Robafoam can provide foam seals for your parts to reduce NVH, get in touch.
