Strain solitary waves in inhomogeneous wave guides

The paper presents recent results of the research on strain solitary wave ( soliton) evolution in elastic wave guides with different types of inhomogen eities. We analyze in calculations, numerical simulations and in experiment s how physical or geometrical inhomogeneities affect the parameters of a de nsity soliton propagating in it. In our experiments strain solitons are pro duced in a wave guide from an initial shock wave generated in the surroundi ng water by laser evaporation of a metallic target immersed into it nearby the input edge of the wave guide. Strain solitons are recorded in a desired part of the wave guide by means of holographic interferometry that allows to visualize the whole process and to obtain the complete set of data at di fferent stages of the wave evolution. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.