Combined effects of material and structure on the NVH performance of a composite steering column support assembly

Abstract

A Closed-Loop Multi-Dimensional Validation Methodology used to ascertain the effect of composites material and structure on steering column support assembly and the modal requirements for the composite part was developed. According to CAE analysis, carbon fiber reinforced polyamide66 part and glass fiber reinforced polyamide66 with lower properties were manufactured. The lower performance part determines resonant frequencies, and the modal requirements can be initially set. Then, the requirements can be verified by the NVH tests of the higher performance part. The new defined modal requirement shows good agreement with the analysis and test results. For the steering column support assembly, the vertical bending mode, which governs the structural response under service loads, exhibits a modal frequency that is over 35% higher in the composite design than in its steel counterpart, marking a critical enhancement in NVH performance. This method can provide a good reference for the confirmation of NVH requirements of other composite parts.