Coherent acoustic wave propagation in media with pair-correlated spheres

Propagation of plane compressional waves in a non-viscous fluid with a dense distribution of identical spherical scatterers is investigated. The analysis is based on the multiple scattering approach proposed by Fikioris and Waterman, and is generalized to include arbitrary choice of the pair-correlation functions used to represent the distribution of the scatterers. A closed form solution for the effective wavenumber as a function of the concentration of pair-correlated finite-size spheres is derived up to the second order. In the limit of uncorrelated point-scatterers, this solution is identical to that obtained by Lloyd and Berry. Different pair-correlation functions are exemplified and compared, and the resulting differences discussed. © 2012 Acoustical Society of America.