Supersonic Turns without Superbooms
Abstract
It is shown that focussed booms that arise in turning flight can be suppressed by the simple (although not always practicable) expedient of slowing down the aircraft. The correct deceleration will eliminate the local curvature of the wave front responsible for the focussing. Specifically, the tangential deceleration resolved along the normal to the wave front is adjusted to cancel out the centripetal acceleration similarly resolved. Horizontal turns of a prescribed limiting sharpness are not of concern for this suppression TECHNIQUE: their focussed booms will be cut off from reaching the ground by atmospheric refraction. The minimum turn radius for focus cutoff is related herein in a simple fashion to the tabulated width of the sonic boom carpet for rectilinear flight, as a function of Mach number and altitude.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1972
- Accession Number
- AD0744859
Entities
People
- H. S. Ribner
Organizations
- University of Toronto