SIXTH FRAMEWORK PRORAMME
CO-OPERATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT
PROBELL 015684
Maintenance and Protection of Bells

Church bells are both musical instruments strongly connected to the European culture and technical structures exposed to severe loading conditions during ringing. Many famous bells being in service for centuries are damaged by cracks and wear, leading to a severe loss of valuable cultural heritage and require high efforts and cost for repair.
The system bell-clapper-belfry, being in service under ringing conditions different from region to region, has been developed over the centuries, mainly based on intuition and tradition. The technological mechanisms and reasons for damages are widely unknown. For the 9 involved SME bell/clapper manufacturers the elaboration of field procedures and respective data to reduce damages is most decisive:

• A new professional service on historical and new bells shall open a new and strong business branch to the European bell foundries reducing costly damages and the risk for personel and people by damaged bells or clappers.
• Reliable methodologies and data shall allow the specialists to set the ringing conditions in the smoothest way achieving at the same time a better musical quality.
• Product reliability arguments on damages of new or repaired bells shall be defined more clearly and prevent the foundries from pretensions for damages out of their responsibilities.
• The results of the project aim on a new standard for the installation of bells similar to the newly defined DIN4178 for church towers.
   

Well experienced RTD performers carry out the experiments and simulations on the latest state of art. An EndUser evaluates the research programme and its results in view of field experience.

The project strongly supports:

• the protection of European cultural heritage, by holding over the life of a large number of bells by optimisation of ringing conditions, professional services and professional evaluation of necessary repair measures.
• reduction of risk due to bells/clapper damage
• maintaining a higher musical quality