Dispersion of circumferential waves on evacuated, water-loaded spherical steel shells.

The phase-velocity dispersion curve of the A0 Lamb wave on a free plate tends to zero at the vanishing frequency while on an evacuated, free spherical shell, it turns upward. On a fluid-loaded shell, and for the analogous circumferential A0 wave, it again tends to zero, however, while a new A-wave (Scholte-Stoneley wave) which gets added due to fluid loading, is the one whose dispersion curve turns upward. This phenomenon is studied here for a thin stainless-steel shell on the basis of dispersion curves calculated from 3D elasticity theory, or obtained from the calculated shell resonances, and is explained by the physical nature (shell-borne or fluid-borne) of appropriate circumferential wave portions. We also establish connections with the previously found partial dispersion curves.