Prospectives to tractor cabin design with computational acoustics tools

Abstract

Computational acoustical models allow automated optimization of tractor design with respect to acoustic properties, which could speed up significantly the design process of tractor cabin prototypes. This article gives insightful prospectives to the tractor design process by considering modern computational acoustics technology. Mathematical formulation for a system consisting of vibrating elastic tractor structure and airfilled acoustic enclosure are given and a related numerical solution technique with finite element method (FEM) is presented. Simulation results produced with commercially available software are reviewed.