326 Int. J. Vehicle Design, Vol. 44, Nos. 3/4, 2007 Copyright © 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Dynamic modelling of composite acoustic boxes for automotive applications Davide Castagnetti,* Eugenio Dragoni and Riccardo Rubini Department of Sciences and Engineering Methods, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Amendola, 2 – Pad. Morselli, Reggio Emilia 42100, Italy E-mail: dcastagnetti@unimore.it E-mail: edragoni@unimore.it E-mail: rrubini@unimore.it *Corresponding author Abstract: Automotive components must withstand shock loads and random vibrations during service which heavily affect their structural integrity. In this paper, an automotive acoustic box supporting two speakers for a car radio system is analysed. The box is made of talc-reinforced polypropylene, an injection-mouldable polymer. Shock load analysis and random response analysis are performed. Keywords: dynamic analysis; shock load; random response; automotive components design. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Castagnetti, D., Dragoni, E. and Rubini, R. (2007) ‘Dynamic modelling of composite acoustic boxes for automotive applications’, Int. J. Vehicle Design, Vol. 44, Nos. 3/4, pp.326–338. Biographical notes: Davide Castagnetti received his Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in 2002. From the end of 2005, he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. He is now pursuing a PhD in Computational Mechanics. His current research interest include computational mechanics, mechanical behaviour of viscoelastic materials and mechanical behaviour of adhesives. Eugenio Dragoni received his Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Bologna University in 1982. He served as an Assistant Professor and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bologna from 1983 to 2000. At the end of 2000, he joined as full-time professor in Mechanical Engineering Design the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and currently holds the position of the head of the Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering. He is the author of over 50 papers on subjects including computational mechanics, mechanical behaviour of adhesives and non-metals and general mechanical design. Riccardo Rubini received a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Mechanics of Machines from Bologna University in 1993 and 1997, respectively. From 1997 to 2000, he was a Lecturer at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and from 2000 to 2004 he joined the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Bologna as an Assistant Professor. At the end