Interaction between a submerged evacuated cylindrical shell and a shock wave—Part I: Diffraction–radiation analysis

Abstract

Abstract The interaction between a submerged elastic circular cylindrical shell and an external shock wave is addressed. A linear, two-dimensional formulation of the problem is considered. A semi-analytical solution is obtained using a combination of the classical analytical approach based on the use of the Laplace transform and separation of variables, and finite difference methodology. The study consists of two parts. Part I focuses on the simulation and analysis of the acoustic fields induced during the interaction. Both the diffraction (absolutely rigid cylinder) and complete diffraction–radiation (elastic shell) are considered. Special attention is paid to the lower-magnitude shell-induced waves representing radiation by the elastic waves circumnavigating the shell. The focus of Part II is on the numerical analysis of the solution. The convergence of the series solution and finite-difference scheme is analysed. The computation of the response functions of the problem is discussed as well, as is the effect of the bending stiffness on the acoustic field. The membrane model of the shell is considered to analyse such an effect, which, in combination with the models addressed in Part I, allows for the analysis of the evolution of the acoustic field around the structure as its elastic properties change from an absolutely rigid cylinder to a membrane. The results of the numerical simulations are compared to available experimental data, and a good agreement is observed.