Acoustic interactions in arrays of spherical elastic shells

The acoustical performance of a submerged linear array of spherical transducers is examined by combining the T-Matrix method of solving for multiple acoustic interactions among separate bodies with a model for the transducers as thin spherical elastic shells. This approach solves the fully coupled problem of the response of the array to internal forcing. The results show that the assumptions giving rise to the Chebyshev criteria for optimal arrays of point sources appear to apply well even for large spheres at low frequencies. However, at frequencies near or above the lowest resonant frequency the directional pattern may be degraded, depending on the material of the shells.