Using Romax Spectrum together with embedded capability from Actran, mechanical engineers at Wikov were able to assess their tram gearbox’s radiated noise and make changes to the design to improve the NVH performance. By democratising such advanced airborne noise simulation capabilities and bringing them to non-expert users within the design phase of a project, valuable simulation insights can be fed back into the design to bring to market higher quality products more quickly.
Active in mechanical engineering for over 130 years, and specifically focused on gears and mechanical gearboxes for the last 100 years, Wikov have offices across the Czech Republic in Prague, Pilsen, Hronov and Zruč nad Sázavou. Combining state-of-the-art machinery with decades of experience, Wikov manufacture high-end products with progressive design solutions and robust parameters. They operate across multiple industries including rail, power generation, wind energy, marine and mining.
Wikov were working on a gearbox for a tram application, for a West European customer. The gearbox is part of an electro-mechanical system, consisting of an electric motor and a two-stage transmission. Wikov had performed some durability assessments on the tram gearbox, but were coming under pressure from their customer to do more NVH analyses. The customer had a rigid requirement that the gearbox must be no louder than 100 dB (A) in the air, across the whole operating range.
“Our customer told us they would not accept a design emitting more than 100 dB (A). They were looking for confidence that we could meet this target, and reassurance that the gearbox was not going to be louder than expected in the real-life application.”
Typically in Wikov’s projects, durability and efficiency targets have higher priority than NVH, and their traditional simulation approach is well suited to optimise for these criteria. Therefore, although Wikov had a strong technical understanding, were fully aware of the NVH background, and had capability for testing, their existing simulation tools were not suitable for assessing NVH as part of a full system simulation.
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