MOTION OF A RIGID SPHERE IN AN ACOUSTIC WAVE FIELD

Abstract

A rigid sphere in the field of plane acoustic waves in a fluid or in an elastic solid medium is subjected to harmonic forces in the direction of propagation of the waves, and proportional to their amplitude. The response curve is a function of the ratio of the circumference of the sphere to the wave length, and of the ratio of the mass of the sphere to the mass of the displaced medium. In an elastic solid, Poisson’s ratio must also be included among the variables. The response curve in fluids decreases continuously with decreasing wave length. In elastic solid media, the response curve has a maximum which is due to resonance effects. In general, the greater the mass of the sphere the smaller the response except in the neighborhood of resonance in elastic solid media. The scattering of acoustic waves by a rigid sphere is determined. The potential of scattered waves is developed in a series of spherical harmonics; it is shown that only the first order coefficients are affected by the motion of the sphere.