Case Studies

The Customer
Drivers and passengers want the quiet quality found in their homes to also be found in the vehicles that carry them to their destination. Whether it is speech or electronics, the desired sounds in the interior space should not compete with wind, tire or engine noise.

The Challenge
Design engineers of today's vehicles recognize that sound waves propagate through open spaces formed where the absorber doesn't fully fill the cavity or when the absorber doesn't precisely fit the shape. Engineers presented 3M with the challenge of improving acoustic absorption in tight, irregularly-shaped areas.

The Solution
3M introduces a new, lightweight, cavity filling acoustic absorber based on proprietary technology. The new absorber is lighter weight than many shoddies found in the automotive industry when equal thicknesses are compared.

The Results
Design engineers have a new design option in acoustic absorption. The absorber is highly compressible, so it easily compresses and recovers to fill three-dimensional cavities or conform in irregular spaces. Filled cavities reduce sound transfer.

Submit your own product-engineering challenge to the 3M Acoustic and Thermal Energy Management Team.

Thinsulate™ Acoustic Insulation—A New Kind of Quiet.

Important Notice
This case study is intended for general information purposes only and should not be used as a recommendation, endorsement, or specification for a particular application. It reflects an application that one or more 3M customers have found for a 3M product or products based on their testing and evaluation in their particular application and under their unique conditions of use. One customer's successful use of a product in a particular application is not necessarily representative and is not a guarantee of the results another customer may have in the same or similar application. 3M does not warrant that this assessment, or its products, will result in any specific noise reduction in an application. Every customer is responsible for evaluating the 3M product to determine whether it is fit for a particular use and suitable for the customer's application.