• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.249-255
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• 2013

A large-sized refrigerator has a complicated inner structure such as a shelf and a rack for product loading. Therefore, when the refrigerator door is opened and closed, the temperature inside the refrigerator varies and vibrations occur due to the physical force applied for opening and closing the door. Owing to these factors, an abnormal sound is generated by the relative distortion between the inner structures. In this study, we aimed to clarify the mechanism that generates this abnormal noise inside the refrigerator using experimental approaches, and we also investigated ways by which to reduce this noise. Toward this end, we developed an experimental setup for measuring the noise, temperature, inner pressure, as well as amount of vibration, and we analyzed the main factors causing the noise based on the experimental results. Furthermore, we suggested a way by which to reduce the noise; this method can be applied in the design stage itself.