Generation and head-on collision of asymmetric envelope solitons in uniform cylindrical rods

The present paper describes an experimental method for generating shear acoustic envelope solitary waves. This technique has enabled us to experimentally investigate the head-on collision between two envelope solitary waves showing symmetric and asymmetric shapes, and propagating in a uniform rod in a low frequency regime. The experimental data demonstrate that the solitary waves reemerge without significant alteration in their essential properties (amplitude, frequency, velocity and polarization) but may be affected by the effects due to dissipation in the rod. Such behaviors being a characteristic of solitons, this investigation provides an a posteriori confirmation of the generation of transverse envelope solitons.