"Vibration Characteristics of a Guitar Using Finite Element and Digital Image Correlation Techniques"

The sound quality generated by a musical instrument depends on the vibration characteristics (i.e., natural frequencies and mode shapes) of the instrument. In this paper, a three-dimensional finite element model of a guitar was developed using quadratic shell and solid elements. An eigensolution was performed on the FE model to extract natural frequencies and mode shapes of the instrument. In order to validate the numerical results, a measurement was performed on the guitar using the digital image correlation technique. In this measurement, the guitar was placed in a free-free configuration and was excited using a broadband excitation generated by a sound source. The response of the guitar to the excitation was recorded using a pair of high-speed cameras. The recorded images were processed in a digital image correlation program to extract its natural frequencies and mode shape. The results show a strong correlation between the numerical model and experimental results.