Stress Wave Propagation in a Bar of Variable Cross-Section

Abstract

There are many important problems in the field of the study of one-dimensional stress wave propagation. One of them is the stress wave propagation in a bar of variable cross-section. Several authors treated this problem, but the function which represents the variation of the cross-section along the axis is usually restricted to be in a simple or special form. When a stress wave encounters a discontinuity of area, the reflected wave and the transmitted wave are determined by the areas of the two cross-sections. In this paper, a bar having an arbitrary cross-section is assumed to be a bar having continuous multi-stepped diameters. Based on this assumption, an analysis of the stress state, especially at the wave front, is performed.