Observation and modeling of acoustic scattering from a rubber spherical shell

Acoustic backscattering from a rubber spherical shell in water is observed to contain a delayed enhancement, demonstrated to be associated with a waveguide path along the shell. This path is somewhat analogous to that of the Lamb wave observed on metallic shells. Rubber is a unique material because of its subsonic sound speed relative to water, and because shear coupling is often small enough to be neglected in typical models, making it fluid-like. This makes rubber a material of interest for coating and cloaking underwater devices and vehicles. Both fluid and elastic rubber partial wave series models are tested, using experimentally measured longitudinal and shear speeds, attenuation, and rubber density. A finite element model for the shell is also developed. Comparison of the models and experiments highlights the importance of the waveguide path to the overall scattering. Estimates for the group and phase velocities of the lowest order propagating mode in the shell are determined through waveguide normal mode analysis and Sommerfeld-Watson theory, and are shown to give good agreement with experiments in predicting the time of arrival of the waveguide path.