CFS reduces noise in outboard engine with NVH foam components

A marine manufacture succeeded with CFS' help.

With foam solutions of unsurpassed quality, Custom Foam Systems Ltd. (CFS) has helped many businesses stay competitive. Take one project in which a world-class marine-sector manufacturer needed NVH foam components with complex properties to lower the deafening noise of its new outboard marine engine, with the simplicity of a two-stroke design. The foam material that the company needed did not exist on the market, so the company got in touch with the CFS team.

A custom foam formula

An effective, sustainable means of reducing the noise level to that of a four-stroke engine was required, one that would insulate the top bonnet cover and two lower panels encasing the motor with NVH foam. Complex specifications were also necessary, which narrowed down to integral-skin (ISKIN) foam as the perfect choice. With no suitable material available, CFS had to develop a custom foam formula for that would expand ISKIN technology creatively for this project.

The CFS Advanced Product Quality Planning team used its material expertise, experience, and development processes to optimize foam sound-insulation properties through three factors:

• Customized material technology – CFS had to custom-develop an integral skin foam system with foam density half that of standard ISKIN. For the tough environment, strong water and oil resistance was required too.
• Highly productive manufacturing – Moulding two large parts and establishing a foam system that could process quickly would be necessary to meet cycle-time goals and achieve target prices. This meant developing a large mould clamping facility.
• Part size and complexity – Also required: four ½-pound parts with many thick and thin areas, to fill all voids between the engine and outer plastic cover.

With above-adequate test plaque samples, the team completed the product-design and -development stages of the process. Then CFS developed production tools and executed a prototype run to assess flow and fill characteristics. Next: a pilot manufacturing run to ensure product and process validation. Finally came production of the NVH foam units.

The customer succeeded with the engine, thanks to this proven process, and CFS was soon hired for another similar project.

To learn more, contact CFS.

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