Handbook of Materials for String Musical Instruments

Dr. Voichita Bucur, currently a senior visiting research fellow at CSIRO, Australia,  received her bachelor in Engineering in 1962 from Polytechnic Institute Brasov, Romania, and her PhD in Mechanics and Ultrasonics in 1984 from the Institut Supérieur des Materiaux, St Ouen, Paris, France. In Romania she was a scientist at the Wood Research Institute in Bucharest until 1978. Then she moved to France where she worked at the Forestry Research Centre in Nancy in charge of the development of acoustic (ultrasonic) nondestructive techniques for quality improvement of wood and wood based products. She was also in charge of the research programmes for PhD and MSci students at the Université "Henri Poincaré" - Nancy, France, for the development of ultrasonic technique in Wood Science. In December 2005 she retired from these positions and moved to Australia. A member of 5 wood and acoustical societies, Dr Bucur published 6 books and more than 140 articles and other publications, shewas a reviewer for journals on wood science, and has 1 patent in France. Her fields of research encompass development of non-destructive techniques (vibrational, acoustic, ultrasonic , X- rays) for the assessment of the quality of trees, wood products and wood-based composites, mechanical characterisation of materials with non-destructive techniques, wood science and technology, and mechanical characterisation of wood for musical instruments.

• From the Contents: Description of String Instruments for Classical Music.- Mechanical Characterization of Materials for String Instruments.- Measuring Vibration Modes of Violins’ and Other Instruments’ Plates.- Material Properties and the Modes of Vibration of the Piano Soundboard.