Scattering of elastic waves by a spheroidal inclusion

An analytical solution is presented for scattering of elastic waves by prolate and oblate spheroidal inclusions. The problem is solved in the frequency domain where separation of variables leads to a solution involving spheroidal wave functions of the angular and radial kind. Unlike the spherical problem, the boundary equations remain coupled with respect to one of the separation indices. Expanding the angular spheroidal wave functions in terms of associated Legendre functions and using their orthogonality properties leads to a set of linear equations that can be solved to simultaneously obtain solutions for all coupled modes of both scattered and interior fields. To illustrate some of the properties of the spheroidal solution, total scattering cross-sections for P, SV and SH plane waves incident at an oblique angle on a prolate spheroid, an oblate spheroid and a sphere are compared. The waveforms of the scattered field exterior to the inclusion are calculated for these same incident waves. The waveforms scattered by a spheroid are strongly dependent upon the angle of incidence, are different for incident SV and SH waves and are asymmetrical about the centre of the spheroid with the asymmetry different for prolate and oblate spheroids.