Vehicle Wind Noise Measurements in a
Wind Tunnel with a Contoured Top Profile
TOYOTA
Vincent Rovedatti, Calvin College
CFD Results
Introduction/Summary
My name is Vincent Rovedatti,
senior ME from Calvin College. This
summer I worked at Calvin with Jacob
Milhorn, senior ME classmate, Rich
De Jong, vibration and noise control
engineering professor, and Gordon
Ebbitt, Toyota Technical Center USA
Inc.
We researched the aerodynamics
and vibrations coming from the back
window and panel of the Toyota
Tundra. We used transducers made at
the college with microphones that we
phase matched.
To understand the problem we
first designed a wind tunnel with a
contour top profile in CFD. The top
profile of the wind tunnel simulates
driving outside (realistic) and accounts
for boundary layer growth so there is
equal pressure across the top of the
streamline.
After analyzing the wind tunnel
in CFD, we built the wind tunnel from
the inside out as described in the
Building Procedure paper.
Development of the Contour
Red Line = Original Streamline
Blue Line = Original Streamline + Boundary Layer Growth Equation
Green Line = Blue Line Corrected to fit a 12 in Outlet
Boundary Layer Growth Equation –
𝛿 = 0.16𝑥𝑅𝑒𝑥 −1/7
Routing Formica
Building Wind Tunnel Model
Prepping Wood to Bend
Pre-Drilling, Chamfering, and Screwing Formica
Transducer Setup
Wind Tunnel Setup