English to Italian Law/Patents Patents

Si tratta del seguente brevetto: AN APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CARRYING OUT IN A CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE MATERIAL FATIGUE TESTS IN A HIGH CYCLE REGIME WITH A CONTROLLED STRAIN RATIO
Trovo queste frasi:
It may be noted that term "horn" herein designates, as it is known to those skilled in the art, an element of generally tapering shape that acts as a resonant element and permits magnifying or amplifying the vibratory motion applied by the converter/transducer.
In the most conventional designs, horns have a linear, exponential or stepped taper.
Continuously tapering horn shapes (at least for the tip portion) are preferred as they allow an optimized application of stress on the specimen with a concentration of stress in the specimen, particularly with a maximum of stress in the middle part of the specimen (the specimen having preferably a hourglass shape with its narrowest section in the middle of the specimen).
Non capisco cosa intendano per stepped taper... hanno un ??? lineare, esponenziale o ??? Grazie mille.