Esmaeil Nouri - Researcher, Sound and Vibration Research Center, R&D Department, Entekhab Industrial Group, ۸۳۳۳۱۱۴۴۴۵, Isfahan, Iran
Saeid Shiralian - Researcher, Sound and Vibration Research Center, R&D Department, Entekhab Industrial Group, ۸۳۳۳۱۱۴۴۴۵, Isfahan, Iran
Ali Loghmani - Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Isfahan University of Tech-nology, ۸۴۱۵۶-۸۳۱۱۱, Isfahan, Iran

This paper proposing a method to decrease the noise level of a washing machine (WM) using vibration absorbing material in low-frequency band. This method is based on identifying an octave band related to the mode shape generating highest sound power level (SWL) and at-tenuating corresponding vibro -acoustic noise. A finite element modal analysis was carried out to find the dominant mode shape. An experimental modal test was also performed to veri-fy the numerical model. An approach using absorbing material along with acoustic pads was suggested to achieve a significant reduction in vibro-acoustic and airborne noise of WM, re-spectively. Optimal locations of the vibration absorbing materials were determined based on the modal analysis results. Acoustic measurements were conducted in a semi-anechoic cham-ber in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

vibro-acoustic; noise attenuation; modal analysis; washing machine