Design of Helmholtz resonator group in a lightweight aluminum alloy wheel for reducing tire acoustic cavity resonance noise

Tire acoustic cavity resonance (TACR) noise is one of the significant sources causing vehicle interior noise at low-frequency band. Since the rotating and loading conditions can split TACR frequencies, TACR noise exhibits a relatively narrow frequency band, which becomes a challenge to attenuate this type of noise. To deal with this problem, the reduction method of the Helmholtz resonator (HR) group installed inside a lightweight aluminum alloy wheel is adopted in this paper. By the combination welding of spoke and rim in aluminum alloy wheel of a passenger vehicle, the internal annular hollow area is generated as the installation space for this HR group. Great advantages of this manufacturing process are the lightweight and easy installation performances for the wheel. According to the theoretical analyses based on the superposition of traveling waves and its experimental validations, the frequency bands of TACR noise for a rotating tire are determined. To reduce the noise, HR group consisting of 5 different sizes is designed by the Finite Element Method (FEM). Meanwhile, the sound-reducing tire-wheel assembly incorporated with the designed HR group is manufactured and tested by the bench and vehicle experiments. A remarkable reduction can be observed at the peak and specified frequency range of TACR noise. Moreover, the performance also proves to be stable and robust under various road and speed conditions. This paper provides a comprehensive and feasible process strategy for the development of noise-reducing wheel.