Distortion of waves with profile discontinuities in the medium with a periodic transverse inhomogeneity distribution

For the purpose of describing the joint influence of nonlinear effects and refractive inhomogeneities on the evolution of intense acoustic waves, a model of the medium the local velocity of sound of which is periodic in the transverse direction and decreases in the propagation direction, which generalizes the known models of the layered medium and of the infinitesimally thin phase screen, is proposed. An exact solution is found for the wave with arbitrary initial conditions: time profile and transverse profile. The spatial wave structure in the inhomogeneous medium is calculated; it is shown that narrow high-amplitude regions are formed and the rate of nonlinear effect accumulation changes. It is shown that the amplitude of the wave at long distances from the source may differ little from its initial value due to compensation for the effects of nonlinear attenuation and of focusing by inhomogeneities. Possibilities of amplification of intense waves depending on the proportion between parameters of the wave and those of the inhomogeneous medium are studied.