Generalized theory of resonance excitation by sound scattering from an elastic spherical shell in a nonviscous fluid.

This work presents the general theory of resonance scattering (GTRS) by an elastic spherical shell immersed in a nonviscous fluid and placed arbitrarily in an acoustic beam. The GTRS formulation is valid for a spherical shell of any size and material regardless of its location relative to the incident beam. It is shown here that the scattering coefficients derived for a spherical shell immersed in water and placed in an arbitrary beam equal those obtained for plane wave incidence. Numerical examples for an elastic shell placed in the field of acoustical Bessel beams of different types, namely, a zero-order Bessel beam and first-order Bessel vortex and trigonometric (nonvortex) beams are provided. The scattered pressure is expressed using a generalized partial-wave series expansion involving the beam-shape coefficients (BSCs), the scattering coefficients of the spherical shell, and the half-cone angle of the beam. The BSCs are evaluated using the numerical discrete spherical harmonics transform (DSHT). The far-field acoustic resonance scattering directivity diagrams are calculated for an albuminoidal shell immersed in water and filled with perfluoropropane gas, by subtracting an appropriate background from the total far-field form function. The properties related to the arbitrary scattering are analyzed and discussed. The results are of particular importance in acoustical scattering applications involving imaging and beam-forming for transducer design. Moreover, the GTRS method can be applied to investigate the scattering of any beam of arbitrary shape that satisfies the source-free Helmholtz equation, and the method can be readily adapted to viscoelastic spherical shells or spheres.