Ultrasonic scattering from spherically orthotropic shells

Concerns over the detectability of embrittlement in high strength alloys has led to studying a simple anisotropic shell model [1] for grain boundaries decorated by precipitates, or otherwise enriched by segregated inhomogenieties. In this model the shell is presumed to be “spherically orthotropic,” having five independent elastic constants and symmetry about the origin of a spherical coordinate system. This structure is analogous to transversely isotropic materials in a Cartesian coordinate system. By studying ultrasonic scattering from such shells (embedded in an isotropic host, and surrounding an isotropic core), we hope to learn whether their presence could be detected, and differentiated from scattering due to the inherent anisotropy of single metal crystals [2,3]