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At least 217 records · Page 12

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NASA NTRS1992

Application of magnitude estimation scaling to the assessment of subjective loudness response to simulated sonic booms

A laboratory study was conducted for the following reasons: (1) to investigate the application of magnitude estimation scaling for evaluating the subjective loudness of sonic booms; and (2) to compare the relative merits of magnitude estimation and numerical category scaling for sonic boom loudness evaluation. The study was conducted in the NASA LeRC's sonic boom simulator and used a total of 80 test subjects (48 for magnitude estimation and 32 for numerical category scaling). Results demonstrated that magnitude estimation was a practical and effective method for quantifying subjective loudness of sonic booms. When using magnitude estimation, the subjects made valid and consistent ratio judgments of sonic boom loudness irrespective of the frequency of presentation of the standard stimulus. Presentation of the standard as every fourth stimulus was preferred by the subjects and is recommended as the standard presentation frequency to be used in future tests.

S McDaniel↗

NASA NTRS1992

Analysis of sonic boom data to quantify distortions of shock profiles

Researchers at Penn State have been examining some sonic boom waveforms recorded during overflights by the Air Force which have become available to NASA and its contractors. The quality of the digitized data and the supporting meteorological data was such that one could test the applicability of molecular relaxation theories. In the late sixties, it had been supposed that the finite rise times in the absence of turbulence had neglected the vibrational relaxation of nitrogen molecules. Bass et al. have demonstrated that molecular relaxation definitely gives the correct order of magnitude of the observed rise times. However, the Air Force data in conjunction with the recent steady-state shock profile model theory of Kang and Pierce give the first opportunity to make a detailed quantitative assessment of the molecular relaxation hypothesis. Currently an investigation is ongoing to establish a method of quantifying the distortion of a sonic boom wave from a classic N-wave shape using the Air Force data taken at Edwards AFB in 1987. Using the premise that energy will be conserved approximately for a sonic boom wave both before and after the boom passes through the Earth's turbulent boundary layer, a classic undistorted waveform is constructed from the distorted signature received at the ground. A correlation between the mean-squared deviation of the distorted and undistorted waveforms and the distance the boom travels through the turbulence is sought.

Gionfriddo, Thomas A.↗

NASA NTRS1994

High-Speed Research: Sonic Boom, Volume 1

The second High-Speed Research Program Sonic Boom Workshop was held at NASA Ames Research Center May 12-14, 1993. The workshop was organized into three sessions dealing with atmospheric propagation, acceptability, and configuration design. Volume 1 includes papers on atmospheric propagation and acceptability studies. Significant progress is noted in these areas in the time since the previous workshop a year earlier. In particular, several papers demonstrate an improved capability to model the effect of atmospheric turbulence on sonic booms. This is a key issue in determining the stability and acceptability of shaped sonic booms. In the area of acceptability, the PLdB metric has withstood considerable scrutiny and is validated as a loudness metric for a wide variety of sonic boom shapes. The differential loudness of asymmetric sonic booms is better understood, too.

Edwards, Thomas A.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Implications for high speed research: The relationship between sonic boom signature distortion and atmospheric turbulence

In this study there were two primary tasks. The first was to develop an algorithm for quantifying the distortion in a sonic boom. Such an algorithm should be somewhat automatic, with minimal human intervention. Once the algorithm was developed, it was used to test the hypothesis that the cause of a sonic boom distortion was due to atmospheric turbulence. This hypothesis testing was the second task. Using readily available sonic boom data, we statistically tested whether there was a correlation between the sonic boom distortion and the distance a boom traveled through atmospheric turbulence.

Sparrow, Victor W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Atmospheric effects on sonic boom: A program review

The program goals were determined after consideration of the weaknesses in our understanding of atmospheric effects on sonic boom waveforms left in the wake of the cancellation of the U.S. SST in the 70's and the advancements in acoustics and atmospheric science since that time. For example, a considerable body of knowledge on molecular absorption has built up in the acoustics community over the last 15 years and this has not been incorporated into the sonic boom theory. Further, it was felt that the understanding of atmospheric turbulence had also advanced considerably during that time period. Therefore, key elements of the current program are the development of an improved atmospheric absorption model and an improved atmospheric turbulence model. The advances made in computer power over the last 15 years were also considered, and will be utilized to remove restrictions on the analytical model for turbulence effects on sonic boom waveforms. Although the majority of disturbing sonic booms will not occur at focuses or caustics, it was felt that this was an area that required further understanding, thus it will be looked into. Finally, in order to insure that the current effort, which is basically analytical in nature, retains a firm grasp on reality, a data base of sonic boom waveforms and associated weather data is being compiled, and a set of scale model experiments is being planned to guide the overall efforts.

Mcaninch, Gerry L.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Atmospheric effects on the risetime and waveshape of sonic booms

Accurate prediction of human response to sonic booms from proposed HSCT aircraft depends on a knowledge of the waveshape and risetime of the boom at the ground. In previous work, we have developed a numerical technique to predict the combined effects of molecular absorption and finite wave distortion on the sonic boom as it propagates from the aircraft to the top of the turbulent boundary layer. We have more recently developed a scattering center based model to calculate the effects of turbulence on the sonic boom waveform as it propagates through this boundary layer. Calculations have been performed using single scales of turbulence and compared to measurements at Edwards AFB in the late 1960's. A model of the atmosphere involving two scales each for convective and mechanical turbulence has been developed and fit to meteorological data collected during JAPE 2. Scattering calculations employing this model underpredict the number of unperturbed waveforms. In order to develop a more realistic model of the atmosphere, the JAPE 2 meteorological data has been fit to a von Karman spectrum. Results of scattering using this multi-scale model will be presented. The combination of finite wave effects with turbulent scattering predictions includes the principal effects of the atmosphere on the sonic boom from the HSCT.

Raspet, Richard↗

NASA NTRS1994

The effect of aircraft speed on the penetration of sonic boom noise into a flat ocean

As U.S. aircraft manufacturers now have focused their HSCT efforts on overwater supersonic flight, a great deal more must be known about sonic booms propagating overwater and interacting with the ocean. For example, it is thought that atmospheric turbulence effects are often much less severe over water than over land. Another important aspect of the overwater flight problems is the penetration of the sonic boom noise into the ocean, where there could be an environmental impact on sea life. This talk will present a brief review on the penetration of sonic boom noise into a large body of water with a flat surface. It has been determined recently that faster supersonic speeds imply greater penetration of sonic boom noise into the ocean. The new theory is derived from the original Sawyers paper and from the knowledge that for level flight a boom's duration is proportional to the quantity M/(M(exp 2)-1)(exp 3/8) where M is the Mach number. It is found that for depths of 10 m or less, the peak SPL varies less than 6 dB over a wide range of M. For greater depths, 100 m for example, increased Mach numbers may increase the SPL by 15 dB or more.

Sparrow, Victor W.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Supersonic civil airplane study and design: Performance and sonic boom

Since aircraft configuration plays an important role in aerodynamic performance and sonic boom shape, the configuration of the next generation supersonic civil transport has to be tailored to meet high aerodynamic performance and low sonic boom requirements. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be used to design airplanes to meet these dual objectives. The work and results in this report are used to support NASA's High Speed Research Program (HSRP). CFD tools and techniques have been developed for general usages of sonic boom propagation study and aerodynamic design. Parallel to the research effort on sonic boom extrapolation, CFD flow solvers have been coupled with a numeric optimization tool to form a design package for aircraft configuration. This CFD optimization package has been applied to configuration design on a low-boom concept and an oblique all-wing concept. A nonlinear unconstrained optimizer for Parallel Virtual Machine has been developed for aerodynamic design and study.

Cheung, Samson↗

NASA NTRS1996

Waveform Freezing of Sonic Booms Revisited

Nonlinear distortion of sonic booms propagating in the atmosphere is strongly affected by stratification and geometrical spreading. For a downward propagating sonic boom in a standard atmosphere, stratification and spreading cause a slowing down of nonlinear distortion. In certain cases a stage is reached where no further distortion takes place. When this happens, the waveform is said to be frozen. In previous work the authors argued that for most HSCT designs and flight conditions being considered, the sonic boom is not frozen when it reaches the ground. The criterion used was the value of the distortion distance x bar is a measure of the nonlinear distortion suffered by the wave (and is closely related to Hayes's E variable). The aircraft must be at an altitude greater than 27 km (80,000 ft) for x bar at the groun be within 95% of its asymptotic value. However, work reported here demonstrates that the ground waveform is much closer to the frozen state than indicated by the previous analysis. In the new analysis, duration of the sonic boom is used as the criterion for judging closeness of approach tz frozen state. In order for the duration of the sonic boom at the ground to be within 95% of its frozen value, the flight altitude of the aircraft needs to be only 15 km (45,000 ft).

Cleveland, Robin O.↗

NASA NTRS1999

A Performance Assessment of Eight Low-Boom High-Speed Civil Transport Concepts

A performance assessment of eight low-boom high speed civil transport (HSCT) configurations and a reference HSCT configuration has been performed. Although each of the configurations was designed with different engine concepts, for consistency, a year 2005 technology, 0.4 bypass ratio mixed-flow turbofan (MFTF) engine was used for all of the performance assessments. Therefore, all original configuration nacelles were replaced by a year 2005 MFRF nacelle design which corresponds to the engine deck utilized. The engine thrust level was optimized to minimize vehicle takeoff gross weight. To preserve the configuration's sonic-boom shaping, wing area was not optimized or altered from its original design value. Performance sizings were completed when possible for takeoff balanced field lengths of 11,000 ft and 12,000 ft, not considering FAR Part 36 Stage III noise compliance. Additionally, an arbitrary sizing with thrust-to-weight ratio equal to 0.25 was performed, enabling performance levels to be compared independent of takeoff characteristics. The low-boom configurations analyzed included designs from the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Douglas Aircraft Company, Ames Research Center, and Langley Research Center. This paper discusses the technology level assumptions, mission profile, analysis methodologies, and the results of the assessment. The results include maximum lift-to-drag ratios, total fuel consumption, number of passengers, optimum engine sizing plots, takeoff performance, mission block time, and takeoff gross weight for all configurations. Results from the low-boom configurations are also compared with a non-low-boom reference configuration. Configuration dependent advantages or deficiencies are discussed as warranted.

Baize, Daniel G.↗

NASA NTRS1968

Briefing on Sonic Boom and Aircraft Noise

This document is a presentation for a NAS-NRC committee on the SuperSonic Transport (SST) sonic boom. It consists of copies of the slides presented during the briefing. The topics covered in reference to Sonic Booms are: the result of sonic boom results on generation and propagation, the atmospheric effects, flight research and laboratory research and prediction theory developments, the structural responses, seismic responses and simulation and human factors from the recent research on the effects of sonic booms, Domestic SST, and evaluation of certain minimum boom concepts from advanced configuration studies. The topics covered in the aircraft noise section are studies on compressor noise reduction, acoustic treatment of nacelle ducts, some technical problems of airplane certification and studies relating to subjective responses.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2003

A Quick Method for Evaluating the Merits of a Proposed Low Sonic Boom Concept

The characteristics of a proposed low-boom aircraft concept cannot be adequately assessed unless it is given an extensive, time-consuming, mission-performance, and sonic-boom analyses. So, it would be useful to have a method for performing a quick first-order sonic-boom and mission-range analysis. The evaluation method outlined in this report has the attributes of being both fast and reasonably accurate. It can also be used as a design tool to estimate the sonic-boom ground overpressures, mission range, and beginning-cruise weight of a new low-boom concept during the first stages of preliminary design.

Mack, Robert J.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Airborne Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration Pressure Measurements with Computational Fluid Dynamics Comparisons

The Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration project showed for the first time that by careful design of aircraft contour the resultant sonic boom can maintain a tailored shape, propagating through a real atmosphere down to ground level. In order to assess the propagation characteristics of the shaped sonic boom and to validate computational fluid dynamics codes, airborne measurements were taken of the pressure signatures in the near field by probing with an instrumented F-15B aircraft, and in the far field by overflying an instrumented L-23 sailplane. This paper describes each aircraft and their instrumentation systems, the airdata calibration, analysis of the near- and far-field airborne data, and shows the good to excellent agreement between computational fluid dynamics solutions and flight data. The flights of the Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration aircraft occurred in two phases. Instrumentation problems were encountered during the first phase, and corrections and improvements were made to the instrumentation system for the second phase, which are documented in the paper. Piloting technique and observations are also given. These airborne measurements of the Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration aircraft are a unique and important database that will be used to validate design tools for a new generation of quiet supersonic aircraft.

Haering, Edward A., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Development of a Deployable Nonmetallic Boom for Reconfigurable Systems of Small Spacecraft

In 2005, NASA commenced Phase 1 of the Modular Reconfigurable High Energy Technology Demonstrator (MRHE) program to investigate reconfigurable systems of small spacecraft. During that year, Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Center (ATC) led an accelerated effort to develop a 1-g MRHE concept demonstration featuring robotic spacecraft simulators equipped with docking mechanisms and deployable booms. The deployable boom built for MRHE was the result of a joint effort in which ATK was primarily responsible for developing and fabricating the Collapsible Rollable Tube (CRT patent pending) boom while Lockheed Martin designed and built the motorized Boom Deployment Mechanism (BDM) under a concurrent but separate IR&D program. Tight coordination was necessary to meet testbed integration and functionality requirements. This paper provides an overview of the CRT boom and BDM designs and presents preliminary results of integration and testing to support the MRHE demonstration.

Rehnmark, Fredrik↗

NASA NTRS2008

Initial Results from the Variable Intensity Sonic Boom Propagation Database

An extensive sonic boom propagation database with low- to normal-intensity booms (overpressures of 0.08 lbf/sq ft to 2.20 lbf/sq ft) was collected for propagation code validation, and initial results and flight research techniques are presented. Several arrays of microphones were used, including a 10 m tall tower to measure shock wave directionality and the effect of height above ground on acoustic level. A sailplane was employed to measure sonic booms above and within the atmospheric turbulent boundary layer, and the sailplane was positioned to intercept the shock waves between the supersonic airplane and the ground sensors. Sailplane and ground-level sonic boom recordings were used to generate atmospheric turbulence filter functions showing excellent agreement with ground measurements. The sonic boom prediction software PCBoom4 was employed as a preflight planning tool using preflight weather data. The measured data of shock wave directionality, arrival time, and overpressure gave excellent agreement with the PCBoom4-calculated results using the measured aircraft and atmospheric data as inputs. C-weighted acoustic levels generally decreased with increasing height above the ground. A-weighted and perceived levels usually were at a minimum for a height where the elevated microphone pressure rise time history was the straightest, which is a result of incident and ground-reflected shock waves interacting.

Haering, Edward A., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2008

A Grid Sourcing and Adaptation Study Using Unstructured Grids for Supersonic Boom Prediction

NASA created the Supersonics Project as part of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program to advance technology that will make a supersonic flight over land viable. Computational flow solvers have lacked the ability to accurately predict sonic boom from the near to far field. The focus of this investigation was to establish gridding and adaptation techniques to predict near-to-mid-field (<10 body lengths below the aircraft) boom signatures at supersonic speeds using the USM3D unstructured grid flow solver. The study began by examining sources along the body the aircraft, far field sourcing and far field boundaries. The study then examined several techniques for grid adaptation. During the course of the study, volume sourcing was introduced as a new way to source grids using the grid generation code VGRID. Two different methods of using the volume sources were examined. The first method, based on manual insertion of the numerous volume sources, made great improvements in the prediction capability of USM3D for boom signatures. The second method (SSGRID), which uses an a priori adaptation approach to stretch and shear the original unstructured grid to align the grid and pressure waves, showed similar results with a more automated approach. Due to SSGRID s results and ease of use, the rest of the study focused on developing a best practice using SSGRID. The best practice created by this study for boom predictions using the CFD code USM3D involved: 1) creating a small cylindrical outer boundary either 1 or 2 body lengths in diameter (depending on how far below the aircraft the boom prediction is required), 2) using a single volume source under the aircraft, and 3) using SSGRID to stretch and shear the grid to the desired length.

Carter, Melissa B.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Slot Nozzle Effects for Reduced Sonic Boom on a Generic Supersonic Wing Section

NASA has conducted research programs to reduce or eliminate the operational restrictions of supersonic aircraft over populated areas. Restrictions are due to the disturbance from the sonic boom, caused by the coalescence of shock waves formed off the aircraft. Results from two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analyses (performed on a baseline Mach 2.0 nozzle in a simulated Mach 2.2 flow) indicate that over-expanded and under-expanded operation of the nozzle has an effect on the N-wave boom signature. Analyses demonstrate the feasibility of reducing the magnitude of the sonic boom N-wave by controlling the nozzle plume interaction with the nozzle boat tail shock structure. This work was extended to study the impact of integrating a high aspect ratio exhaust nozzle or long slot nozzle on the trailing edge of a supersonic wing. The nozzle is operated in a highly under-expanded condition, creating a large exhaust plume and a shock at the trailing edge of the wing. This shock interacts with and suppresses the expansion wave caused by the wing, a major contributor to the sonic boom signature. The goal was to reduce the near field pressures caused by the expansion using a slot nozzle located at the wing trailing edge. Results from CFD analysis on a simulated wing cross-section and a slot nozzle indicate potential reductions in sonic boom signature compared to a baseline wing with no propulsion or trailing edge exhaust. Future studies could investigate if this effect could be useful on a supersonic aircraft for main propulsion, auxiliary propulsion, or flow control.

Castner, Raymond S.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Slot Nozzle Effects for Reduced Sonic Boom on a Generic Supersonic Wing Section

Caster, Raymond S.↗