Vibration generated from various sources (engine, road surface, tires, exhaust, etc.) should be considered in the design of a car body. These vibrations travel through transfer systems (drivetrain, suspension, body, etc.) to the steering wheel, seats and other areas where it is detected by the passengers of the vehicle. Transmission routes must be studied and efforts made to keep transfer systems from amplifying vibration and to absorb it instead. Since the superior vibration transfer system is the car body, finite element analysis and experimental vibration analysis are performed on car body-in-white. Body vibration analysis entails understanding and improving the body&rsquo / s dynamic characteristics that act as vibration transfer channels. In the previous study, a finite element model has been created for a car body-in-white available in Automotive Laboratory (Mechanical Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Ankara) and its natural frequencies and mode shapes have been determined using finite element analysis software. In this study, vibration tests have been performed on actual car body-in-white. Frequency response functions between 34 response locations and force application point have been measured. Using these frequency response functions, natural frequencies and mode shapes of the body-in-white have been determined. Finite element analysis and experimental results have been compared to evaluate the finite element model reliability.

A change in a part's response to vibrations can be measured and utilized as a non-destructive testing method to detect deviations in the part's materials or geometry through processes such as laser acoustic resonance spectroscopy. This work focuses on leveraging vibration resonance to detect flaws in prints produced through additive friction stir deposition that arise through environmental contamination. More specifically, the use case considered is the printing of AA7075 in an iron oxide rich environment, where iron oxide dust or powder could accidentally be stirred into the printed material creating a print flaw. The modeling of printed parts contaminated with iron oxide to predict their natural frequencies is examined. Two different finite element models are discussed, which were created to represent contamination flaws with and without voids. The first model considers the case where a part is void-free. In this case, the model assumes a solid, homogeneous material condition in the stir region. The second model considers the case where voids are present in the part. This model leverages x-ray computed tomography data to build a representative mesh. These models show that with a well-understood part and corresponding flaw, it is possible to predict the natural frequencies of a flawed part. By leveraging the part vibration measurements and model predictions of known defects, it may be possible to gain insights into and characterize unknown print flaws. / Master of Science / An important aspect of product or part creation is checking consistency between parts. Methods that can verify a part is good without damaging the part are valuable, especially when only a few parts are being made, or there is a high chance of something going wrong. One way of checking a part is to shake it and watch how it reacts and bends. If there is a difference in how a part reacts to the shaking from a known good part, then there is a problem. This work examines creating computer simulations to predict how a part should react to shaking when it is good and how it should react when it has flaws. This work considers flaws caused by debris from the environment during part creation. This work also considers whether such debris causes holes or voids to form in the parts and conducts predictions with the holes included.