An analytical response of church bells to earthquake excitation

Occasionally there is an earthquake in the UK during which church bells are reported to have been set ringing. The motion of a medium sized church bell has been simulated and the response to earthquake records from the Parkfield earthquake of 1966 has been calculated. The response of the bells is found to depend on the mechanical properties of the bell and the tower in which it is hung. The analyses do show that for a bell to ring in an earthquake the peak ground acceleration is in the range 0.97 to 29.4 m s(-2) considerably in excess of the range indicated by the MMI VI "church and school bells ring" of 0.4 to 1.5 m s(-2). The best correlation between recognised earthquake parameters and the ringing of the bell was obtained by combining the spectral values for clapper-bell angle, obtained from the linearised set of equations, at the bells natural frequencies using the SRSS method. The values of this parameter to set the bell ringing was in the range 0.25 and 0.38 rad, compared with the actual striking angle 0.54 rad.