BSH uses Simcenter solutions for advanced sound quality engineering and efficient product development. The appliance manufacturer optimizes acoustic and vibration testing of its products with Simcenter Testlab.
Washing machines, dishwashers and refrigerators need to perform their inherent functions quietly and without attracting attention. Yet the average consumer has no idea of the competition between leading appliance manufacturers to achieve optimum noise and vibration levels.
The importance of this parameter increases every year," explains Otto Petraška, head of BSH's vibration and acoustics department. It's even a criterion that can stop mass production of certain products."
BSH's Vibration and Acoustics department in Košice, Slovakia, is responsible for the acoustic and vibration performance of electric motors produced by BSH Drives and Pumps in Michalovce, Slovakia. Created in 2004, this department provides noise and vibration optimization services for household appliances manufactured by BSH under the main Bosch and Siemens brands. With its 16 in-house experts, it serves eight other Robert Bosch divisions, helping to optimize noise and vibration parameters for everything from gardening tools to electric motors for cars.
With Simcenter Testlab, we can intervene at any stage of the simulation chain and discover how the change will be reflected in the basic design," explains Otto Petraška. For example, when it comes to the structure of the engine, when some of its parts create sound, we may have a technical solution. But if the problem comes from the electromagnetic design itself, we go back to the drive development department and optimize the basic design. We know a number of such loops in the development of a new motor."
The fully-equipped semi-anechoic chamber provides additional sound engineering quality.
Simulations and experimental tests
BSH's Vibration and Acoustics department began using digital tools in 2008, deploying simulation and test software from Siemens Digital Industries Software's Simcenter portfolio for total data compatibility.
"Simcenter enables us to establish a strong correlation between simulations and experimental tests, which are very important because without them, simulations would simply be beautiful color images," says Otto Petraška.
BSH uses Simcenter Testlab in combination with Simcenter 3D simulations. "We have seen the benefits of using these interconnected products, and are using the synergies they offer," says Ján Ondrejča, Senior Development Engineer, BSH. We notice the efficiency and ease of use of all Simcenter solutions in terms of noise and vibration."
Through experimental testing, the team checks that the simulation parameters are correctly set and that the results are reliable. If the simulation shows an optimal result, the product is transformed into a real prototype," explains Otto Petraška. We can only build a physical prototype if we are sure we have achieved the best possible result."
And with digitalization, development times are steadily decreasing. What used to take weeks can now be done in days, and some simulations have been reduced from days to hours. As simulation models become more advanced, simulation engineers will be able to anticipate a product's long-term behavior.
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