STRESS-WAVE PROPAGATION IN A CLASS OF NONHOMOGENEOUS ELASTIC MEDIA

Scheme for changing one of the independent variables is used to transform the curvilinear characteristics associated with continuously nonhomogeneous material properties into straight lines of e%qual slope. Some of the practical difficulties caused by curvilinear characteristics are thereby alleviated. The characteristic relations and appropriate jump conditions in the transformed space-time plane are derived for hyperoblic system of quasilinear partial differential equations of first order %for two functions of two independent variables. The resulting equations are solved numerically. Results are applied to several problems.