Ding dong measurement on high

Bells are a popular source of festive delight during the Christmas period – and now beautiful images showing in unprecedented detail how bells vibrate to make a harmonious sound have been produced by the commercial team at the Advanced Structural Dynamics Evaluation Centre (ASDEC).

Working with John Taylor & Co.; a company of bell founders that can trace their origins back to the 14th century, the team scanned the structural dynamics of two large bells using ASDEC’s robotised 3D laser vibrometry system at approximately 4,000 measurement locations, providing visual data that would be unimaginable with traditional instrumentation.

ASDEC's unique structural dynamic measurement can be used on its own or to correlate against finite element analysis (FEA) computer modelling - a computerised method for predicting how a product reacts to real-world forces, vibration, heat, fluid flow, and other physical effects.

By utilising ASDEC’s advanced robotised laser system they were able to reveal the beauty of the bells vibration in amazing detail.

ASDEC, which functions both as a commercial operation and as a research facility, is the UK’s first commercial robotised 3D scanning laser vibration measurement and modal analysis centre which works closely with the University of Leicester’s Department of Engineering.

The Centre is directed by Sarah Hainsworth, Professor of Materials and Forensic Engineering at the Department of Engineering, and has been developed by the University of Leicester and funded by grants from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund and the European Regional Development Fund.

• More information about the bells can be found here.
• More information about John Taylor & Co is available here.
• Press release
• Express article

A video showing the vibration of the bells is available at: