Quieter Cabin Through Reduction
in Uncontrolled Vehicle Air Leakage
and Controlling Actions at Various Levels
Kedar Kulkarni, Pramod Patil, and Samar Deshpande
Abstract Quieter cabin and environment inside are important areas of success for
any automobile as both are vital aspects of passenger comfort. On the contrary cabin
air leakage can adversely affect these two areas to a greater extent. Air from the
passenger cabin finds its way to the outer environment through the gaps formed
in assembly interfaces and BIW, which is unintended and unrestricted air-leakage
referred to as cabin air leakage. Same way may be followed by outer smell and noise,
which directly affects the environment of cabin. Unintended air leakage is having
some indirect effects such as reduction in the efficiency of HVAC cooling-heating
causes excessive compressor engagement thus dropping fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
Identifying accurate leakage paths and deploying suitable counteraction results in
tangible benefits such as silent cabin, improved passenger environment and also adds
up intangible benefit as higher fuel efficiency. In this paper, we used “Elimination
methodology” to carry out the air leakage study on passenger vehicles, in which at
static condition vehicle cabin is pressurized with air with the help of BLT (body leak
test) machine and leakages were identified with help of stethoscope and soap water.
Smoke machines can also be used for initial cabin leakage analysis. Later leakages
and gaps were eliminated one by one by applying silicon sealant or putty thus getting
the individual leakage contribution as well as final improvement value which can be
achieved. The improvement in air leakage by 29% (254 CFM to avg. 180 CFM)
is achieved through design modification of seals, BIW, application of expandable
strips, plugs, closed-cell foam, stickers at various levels of manufacturing.
Keywords Body leak testing · BIW body in white · HVAC heating · Ventilation
and air conditioning · Air leakage
K. Kulkarni (B) · P. Patil · S. Deshpande
Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Chennai, India
e-mail: kulkarni.kedar2@mahindra.com
P. Patil
e-mail: patil.pramod3@mahindra.com
S. Deshpande
e-mail: deshpande.samar@mahindra.com
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
N. Gascoin and E. Balasubramanian (eds.), Innovative Design, Analysis
and Development Practices in Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Lecture Notes
in Mechanical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6619-6_32
303
in Uncontrolled Vehicle Air Leakage
and Controlling Actions at Various Levels
Kedar Kulkarni, Pramod Patil, and Samar Deshpande
Abstract Quieter cabin and environment inside are important areas of success for
any automobile as both are vital aspects of passenger comfort. On the contrary cabin
air leakage can adversely affect these two areas to a greater extent. Air from the
passenger cabin finds its way to the outer environment through the gaps formed
in assembly interfaces and BIW, which is unintended and unrestricted air-leakage
referred to as cabin air leakage. Same way may be followed by outer smell and noise,
which directly affects the environment of cabin. Unintended air leakage is having
some indirect effects such as reduction in the efficiency of HVAC cooling-heating
causes excessive compressor engagement thus dropping fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
Identifying accurate leakage paths and deploying suitable counteraction results in
tangible benefits such as silent cabin, improved passenger environment and also adds
up intangible benefit as higher fuel efficiency. In this paper, we used “Elimination
methodology” to carry out the air leakage study on passenger vehicles, in which at
static condition vehicle cabin is pressurized with air with the help of BLT (body leak
test) machine and leakages were identified with help of stethoscope and soap water.
Smoke machines can also be used for initial cabin leakage analysis. Later leakages
and gaps were eliminated one by one by applying silicon sealant or putty thus getting
the individual leakage contribution as well as final improvement value which can be
achieved. The improvement in air leakage by 29% (254 CFM to avg. 180 CFM)
is achieved through design modification of seals, BIW, application of expandable
strips, plugs, closed-cell foam, stickers at various levels of manufacturing.
Keywords Body leak testing · BIW body in white · HVAC heating · Ventilation
and air conditioning · Air leakage
K. Kulkarni (B) · P. Patil · S. Deshpande
Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Chennai, India
e-mail: kulkarni.kedar2@mahindra.com
P. Patil
e-mail: patil.pramod3@mahindra.com
S. Deshpande
e-mail: deshpande.samar@mahindra.com
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
N. Gascoin and E. Balasubramanian (eds.), Innovative Design, Analysis
and Development Practices in Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Lecture Notes
in Mechanical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6619-6_32
303