Friction force reconstruction in bowed cello strings

When playing a bowed-string instrument, a complex interaction occurs between the rosin-coated bow hair and the string. The resulting frictional force that excites the string has interested researchers since the first observations of Helmholtz and Raman. Despite extensive research, we still lack a clear formulation of the physical laws governing this force. Notably, Schumacher, Garoff, and Woodhouse developed an inverse calculation method that reconstructs the friction force at the bowing point by measuring forces at the string's terminations. Using this method, they gathered valuable empirical evidence of the friction force behavior by studying a violin string excited with a glass rod. In our work, we applied the inverse method to a more complex scenario, including a cello string excited with a real bow. By analyzing the reconstructed friction forces from both measured and simulated data across various bowing conditions, we gathered further insights into the frictional interaction. [This research was funded in whole or in part by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [10.55776/P34852]]