Acoustic scattering of impulsive geometrical waves by a glass sphere in water

An elastic sphere is acoustically excited in water by a punctual pulse sour ce. A high-speed visualization system allows the identification of the geom etrical waves diffused in the fluid. The visualization results are correlat ed with a time space representation of pressure measurements in the fluid a nd with a numerical simulation. The experimental technique presented here a llows a very accurate description of the acoustic diffusion on elastic bodi es even for ultrasonic frequencies. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics.