Numerical simulation of a piano soundboard under downbearing
Adrien Mamou-Mani, Joël Frelat, Charles Besnainou · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2008
A finite element model of a piano soundboard is used to study the effect of the strings tension (downbearing) on its vibration, considering the ribs, the bridges and the crown. The downbearing is modeled with the prestress theory. Prestress calculation with linear and nonlinear models including geometric rigidity are compared in terms of the modal frequencies. The effects of the downbearing in modal frequencies and mobility are investigated and the importance of the crown on these results is evaluated. A simple phenomenological law is exhibited, which characterizes the evolution of eigenfrequencies with downbearing, including the initial crown.