Acoustic scattering from cylindrical shells: Guided waves and resonances of the liquid column

Recent studies of acoustic scattering have allowed the explanation of the existence of additional lines in the resonance spectrum of an elastic solid cylinder immersed in water by the examination of natural modes. A first group of natural modes, related to the propagation of the circumferential waves (Rayleigh, Whispering Gallery waves), is detected when the cylinder is insonified perpendicularly to its axis. A second group of natural modes related to the guided waves which propagate in the direction parallel to the axis of the cylinder is detected when it is insonified obliquely. In this Paper, the authors examine the acoustic scattering from cylindrical shells filled with a fluid (air or liquid) by the method of isolation and identification of resonances (MIIR). It allows resonance spectra to be obtained; in addition, the mode number, n, given by the identification, makes it possible to separate the resonances into different series. It is possible to explain the experimental resonance spectra of a liquid-filled tube insonified perpendicularly to its axis with a non-perfect directive transducer, by the calculation of the eigenfrequencies of the different parts of the target. The authors show the great importance of the guided waves along the axis and of the resonances of the liquid column when the shell is filled with a liquid. The resonance spectra of liquid-filled targets and the reradiation patterns giving by MIIR, i.e. after the end of excitation, are shown for the first time.