• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.561-568
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• 2012

This study proposes a method of an equivalent bell model in order to tune the beat period of a Korean bell. In a Korean bell having a slight asymmetry, each circumferential mode splits into a mode pair which has a slight difference in frequency, and the interaction of the mode pair makes a beat in vibration and sound. An equivalent bell model which consists of an axi-symmetric bell and an equivalent point mass, has the same mode property as in a real bell. The equivalent bell model is constructed by the finite element analysis based upon the theory of a revolutionary shell. Using the equivalent bell model, the beat period is predicted when the bell thickness is locally decreased to improve the beat property. The predicted result is verified by experiment on a test bell. The proposed method is useful to save the time required for tuning the beat period of a large bell.