Aluminium Bells

Abstract

NEARLY eighty years ago, Henri Sainte Claire Deville wrote that he had cast an aluminium bell and presented it to the Royal Institution of London. He remarked in his great book, “De l'Aluminium, Ses Propriétés, Sa Fabrication, et Ses Applications”, that the tone of this bell was none too good and that it was quickly damped due to the shape of the bell. He regretted that he had cast this bell in the traditional form of all bronze bells, but evidently did no further experimenting. He commented briefly on the fact that a bar or ingot of aluminium when struck sharply rang with a much better tone than his bell.