Ride Comfort Analysis – NVH in Passenger Cars

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Comfort begins where vibrations end.

Why precise vibration analysis is crucial for driving comfort – for drivers, vehicles, and the driving experience.

Background & relevance

Driving comfort is a key quality feature of modern vehicles. It influences not only the subjective well-being of the occupants, but also the perception of brand value, safety, and technical maturity. A well-founded vibration analysis is therefore essential for:

the development of comfortable vehicle systems
the reduction of unwanted vibrations
the optimization of seat, steering, and rolling behavior
objectively evaluating comfort features during the development process

Challenge

Comfort-related vibrations are caused by a variety of factors:

Road surface irregularities and tire imbalance
Coupling of the drive unit
Driver reactions on the seat and steering wheel
Structure-borne vibrations with varying degrees of freedom (pitch, yaw, roll)

The contributions of each of these phenomena to an unwanted vibration perceived by the occupants is typically very difficult to identify, as they overlap in a low-frequency range (between 1Hz and 50Hz) and originate from a global motion of the system. Precise detection of these phenomena requires high-resolution sensor technology, flexible measurement strategies, and intelligent data processing.

Solution

Our PAK software offers a powerful platform for comprehensive ride comfort analysis. In combination with Mecalc hardware and the PAK Cloud, it creates a comprehensive system for mobile, scalable, and standard-compliant recording and evaluation of comfort data.

Process

Recording of low-frequency vibrations (from <1 Hz) with high signal quality
Online calculation of measurement channels to derive virtual comfort variables (e.g., at the seat and steering wheel)
Automated classification and triggering according to route sections, speed, or driving parameters
Integration of vehicle bus systems and encoder functions for analyzing tire excitations
Real-time storage and analysis of data – locally or via the PAK cloud
Use of operational data to identify Principal Components of the low frequency motions, allowing to separate, analyze and rank the contributions of each of these phenomena

Results

Objective evaluation of rolling, seating, and steering comfort
Efficient development through automated evaluation and classification
Deeper understanding of complex vibration phenomena
Reproducible comfort analyses across different vehicle types

Customer benefits

✅ Comfort optimization through precise vibration analysis

✅ Efficient development through automated measurement processes

✅ Integration into existing development environments

✅ Data openness through ASAM ODS-ATFx format

⭐️ Key Features

Low-frequency measurement from <1 Hz
Online compensation and virtual channels
Automated classification and triggering
Integration of vehicle bus and encoder data
Cloud-based data availability and further processing

✅ Conclusion

Make driving comfort measurable – PAK software enables precise analysis and optimization of comfort features in vehicles. An indispensable tool for developers, OEMs, and suppliers on the road to a new driving experience.

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