The Scientific Suspending Structure of the Yongle Bell
The rectangular bronze bar threading through the handle of the bell is only 14.3 centimeters in height and 6.6 centimeters in width. It looks small and exquisite for the big bell 46 tons in weight. Visitors wonder whether such a bronze bar can bear the weight of the big bell for a long time. In 1989, our staff members and Professor Feng Changgen of Beijing University of Science and Engineering investigated the "dangerous" parts of the bell and calculated their strength. The bronze bar bears the blade load on two sections of the same size. So the blade load is 2.44 kilograms/square mm.
