Aerodynamics of Civil Transport Supersonic Aircraft Contribution to the numerical prediction methods of sonic boom for supersonic aircraft
Pressures field in the vicinity of an aircraft wind-tunnel model
illustrating the shock waves structure issued from the aircraft
in supersonic flight conditions
One significant obstacle to the development of supersonic civil transport remains the nuisance related to the sonic boom. An aircraft flying at supersonic speed (Mach number above 1.0) generates in its vicinity a flow field characterised by marked swept shock wave resulting in very strong pressures gradients. Sonic boom corresponds to the pressure variations experienced by an observer on the ground that result from the propagation through the atmosphere of these aircraft near-field pressure gradients.
Being able to predict this sonic boom phenomenon is an important key for the design of a future civil high-speed transport aircraft. The Applied Aerodynamics Department of Onera contributes to the development of numerical methods for sonic boom prediction by developing and validating CFDbased approaches for the highly-accurate predictions of the near-field pressures at few fuselage lengths from the aircraft that are required for the evaluation of the resulting pressure signal on the ground.
Validation of the CFD-based near-field pressures prediction.
Pressure signature of the aircraft at 2 fuselage-length below the aircraft.
