RUI: Undergraduate Research in Musical Acoustics

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This award supports two related projects within the context of musical acoustics. These represent two complex problems involving energy transfer in metal structures. In the case of impacted plates, it has been shown that equations developed in the 19th century can be used to describe the steady-state motion of thin plates with some success. However, predicting the transient response of plates to an impact has proven to be a less tractable problem. The work supported here will lend insight into the physics of the struck plate, primarily by comparing experimental work to the results of computational modeling. The interaction between vibrating air and the walls that contain the air is likewise a complex problem of broad interest. Several possible explanations have been posited to account for the audible effects reported in the literature, but as of this date none have been supported by experimental data. The primary goals of this work are to understand the transient response of struck plates within the context of idiophones, and to determine how structural vibrations affect the sound of brass wind instruments. he study of musical instruments is interesting to undergraduate students, and therefore, having a research program in this area naturally attracts young minds. While the systems under study involve musical instruments, the research centers on studying basic physical phenomena which are not unique to musical acoustics. Thus, students are introduced to important scientific research through a subject they find fascinating.