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Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) was used during the design of a new heavy duty truck. This paper provides an overview of the building and validation process of an airborne SEA model of a typical commercial vehicle. Predictions of interior noise levels are compared against tests. A noise path contribution analysis is presented, demonstrating how the impact of potential design changes on the interior sound levels can be evaluated with an SEA model.

Cast structures offer significant potential for weight reduction by applying numerical optimization methods. However, optimization techniques have been rarely used by industry in these applications because of either the large computational resources required or the extensive time required to set up the optimizations. Improvements in topological optimization and faster computers have overcome some of these problems. This paper shows some examples of recent optimization studies as applied to cast structures. Topological optimization studies are performed using ANSYS finite element software. Sizing optimization studies were performed with MSC/NASTRAN software. These studies have shown that optimization can be effectively applied to solid structures, assuming that the critical loads can be modeled with linear analyses.