Machining of alternator end castings produced 104 dB(A) at the operator, dominated by a “squeal” radiating from the casting. Overlapping hanging strips had been fitted round each machine in an attempt to reduce noise – but in every case they had been cut down at the operator location to improve access. Frequency analysis showed the dominant tones were excited by cutting forces with evidence of chatter-marks on some of the machined surfaces. We designed a low cost damper to reduce the casting vibration.
This reduced “squeal” tone by 32 dB and the overall noise level by 16 dB(A) at source, improved the quality of cut and reduced the machining cycle time to improve productivity.
