Passing through the elastic wave barrier by a load moving uniformly along a smoothly inhomogeneous elastic system

The passing through the elastic wave barrier velocity is investigated Sor t he case of a uniform load motion along a string on an elastic foundation. T he string and foundaiion parameters vary 'smoothly' in such a manner that a transition from sub- into supercritical load motion occurs as the load pas ses a region of inhomogeneity. The transient solution Sor the string vibrat ions is derived and studied as a function of a characteristic length of the region of inhomogeneity. It turns out that during the passing the string d isplacements remain limited. A is shown that the smaller the characteristic length the smaller is the maximum amplitude of the string vibrations.