Characterization of acoustic and mechanical properties of common tropical woods used in classical guitars

摘要

Graphical abstract Display Omitted Highlights ? Acoustic, mechanical and swelling properties of Indian Rosewood ( Dalbergia latifolia Roxb.), Ziricote ( Cordia dodecandra DC), African Blackwood ( Dalbergia melanoxylon Roxb.) and Ebony ( Diospyros crassiflora Hiern.). ? Limited availability of tropical tonewoods according to CITES. ? Increase the low knowledge of tropical wood used as tonewood in classical guitars to find suitable substitution woods. Abstract There is a need of substitution woods for the use in musical instruments because of the limited availability of some commonly used tropical tonewoods. Before substitutions can be found, it is necessary to know about the required properties. Hence, in this paper acoustical, mechanical and physical properties of four common tropical hardwoods (Indian rosewood, ziricote, African blackwood and ebony) were determined because there are less literature values for some properties available, e.g. internal friction, hardness or swelling behaviour. The acoustic properties were determined by means of experimental modal analysis, the mechanical properties by means of static bending tests and tests of the Brinell hardness. For the swelling behaviour the volume swelling and also the differential swelling coefficients were determined. With the results it is possible to look for new ‘tonewoods’ or to specifically modified woods, e.g. thermally treated wood, to substitute tropical wood species.