Mercury Marine opens state-of-the-art Noise, Vibration, Harshness (NVH) Technical Center
by Lee Gordon 7 Dec 2018 07:08 PST
Mercury Marine NVH Technical Center © Lee Gordon
Only eight months after breaking ground, Mercury Marine has officially opened a new state-of-the-art expansion at its global headquarters in Fond du Lac. The two-story NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) Technical Center adds close to 20,000 additional square feet to the more than 2.5 million square-foot campus. This $10M investment to Mercury's global headquarters gives the company the largest and most expansive testing facility in the marine industry. In total, Mercury has invested more than $1B globally in expansion and R&D since 2008.
NVH is the engineering practice of studying noise, vibration and harshness characteristics; these are integral to the boating experience, ensuring the quietest and most peaceful engine for the consumer. The new technical center houses two marine-specific hemi-anechoic chambers, structural dynamic testing bays, listening rooms, offices and workspaces.
"We have long said that we will continue to invest in ensuring that our engines are the most reliable and quiet engines in the world and our new NVH Technical Center gives us the additional test capacity we need to continue to meet and exceed our product development goals and meet and exceed the desires of our customers," said Tim Reid, Mercury Marine vice president of product development and engineering.
The new facility is Mercury's third major expansion in the last 20 months. In early 2017, Mercury officially opened its new $24 million EDP paint plant and in April 2017, Mercury commissioned a 4,500-ton high-pressure die-cast machine, the largest in North America.
"We have been looking forward to this day for a long-time and now that it is here, we couldn't be more excited to show off this facility to the world," said Reid. "The NVH building and its capabilities will set a new benchmark in the marine industry. We are proud of this expansion and looking forward to giving our engineers a world-class facility where they can study every noise, movement and performance indicator on every engine we manufacture."
The two story building which is nearly 20,000 square-foot Technical Center will contain:
- Two marine-specific hemi-anechoic chambers designed to provide a consistent test environment that mimics being out on the open water without any outside noises present;
- Structural dynamic testing bays for the measurement and analysis of the NVH properties of engines, components, and full configurations on boats of up to 45 feet in length and up to 12 feet in beam;
- A listening (playback) room; and
- Offices and workspaces for NVH engineers and technicians.