In early design stage, the simulation of interior noise is useful for the enhancement of the noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) performance in a vehicle. The traditional transfer path analysis (TPA) technology cannot simulate the interior noise since it uses the experimental method. In order to solve this problem, in this paper, the hybrid TPA is developed as the novel approach. The hybrid TPA uses the simulated excitation force as the input force, which excites the flexible body of a car at the mount point, while the traditional TPA uses the measured force. This simulated force is obtained by numerical analysis for the FE (finite element) model of a powertrain. The interior noise is predicted by multiplying the simulated force by the vibro-acoustic transfer function (VATF) of the vehicle. The VATF is the acoustic response in the compartment of a car to the input force at the mount point of the powertrain in the flexible car body. The trend of the predicted interior noise based on the hybrid TPA very well corresponds to the measured interior noise, although there is some difference due to not only the experimental error and the simulation error but also the effect of the air-borne path.
