Practical issues in quieting locomotive cab interior

The primary purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the practical issues related to providing a quieter environment in a locomotive cab. We will first review some of the past studies related to this topic. Next, we will present three issues related to reducing locomotive cab interior noise: 1) how to effectively assess new noise improvement options, 2) how to increase the engineering and cost efficiency of the evaluation methods, and 3) what factors must be considered in implementing the selected options in production. In regards to each of the three issues discussed in this paper, the authors will present their practical experience in noise and vibration testing of locomotive cabs and passive isolation systems. The discussions in the paper will point out that a laboratory setting in which field operating conditions can be represented with a high degree of repeatability proves to be the most effective method of evaluating various noise and vibration options in a locomotive cab. The paper also points out that analytical procedure, such as impedance method, can be effective for predicting vibrations in a locomotive cab, using test data obtained in a laboratory setup. Among the implementation issues, the effect of the noise and vibration solution of the manufacturing process and cost, as well as on the human body dynamics (biodynamics) ranks the highest