Acoustic scattering by elastic solid cylinders and spheres in viscous fluids

Abstract

This paper deals with analytic studies and numerical results of the scattering of plane sound waves from an elastic circular cylinder and from an elastic sphere in a viscous fluid. The elastic properties of the cylinder and the sphere and the viscosity of the surrounding fluid are taken into account in the solution of the acoustic‐scattering problems. The associated acoustic quantities, such as the acoustic‐scattering patterns, the acoustic‐radiation forces, and the acoustic attenuation, are first derived in closed forms and then evaluated numerically for a given set of material properties. Numerical results show that increasing fluid viscosity tends to increase the directionality of the angular distribution of the scatteringpatterns, especially in the forward direction. The acoustic‐radiation force on the cylinder or on the sphere is in the direction of the incident wave and increases as the viscosity of the fluid increases. The plots of the acoustic‐attenuation coefficients versus the dimensionless wavenumber of the incident sound wave reveal oscillatory phenomena, which are caused by the resonant vibrations of the cylinder or the sphere.