Public Domain Aeronautical Software (PDAS)

The first reference below is the primary reference for this computer program. I have added other references for additional study of the sonic boom phenomenon. The three NASA Special Publications are good summaries of the state of the art at the time of publication.

  1. Friedman, Manfred P.: A Description of a Computer Program for the Study of Atmospheric Effects on Sonic Booms. NASA Contractor Report 157, February, 1965.
  2. Middleton, Wilbur D.; and Carlson, Harry W.: A Numerical Method for Calculating Near-Field Sonic-Boom Pressure Signatures. NASA Technical Note D-3082, November 1965.
  3. Darden, Christine M.: Sonic-Boom Minimization with Nose-Bluntness Relaxation. NASA Technical Publication 1348, January 1979.
  4. Friedman, M. P., Kane, E. J., Sigalla, A., Effects of Atmosphere and Aircraft Motion on the Location and Intensity of a Sonic Boom. AIAA Journal, Vol. 1, p. 1327, June 1963.
  5. Whitham, G. B., The Flow Pattern of a Supersonic Projectile, Comm. Pure and Appl. Math., Vol. V, p. 301-348, August 1952.
  6. Walkden, F., The Shock Pattern of a Wing-Body Combination, Far from the Flight Path, Aero. Quart., Vol. IX, p. 164-194, May 1958.
  7. Whitham, G. B., A New Approach to Problems of Shock Dynamics, Part 1, Two-dimensional Problems, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 2, p.145, 1957.
  8. Seebass, R.; and George, A.: Sonic Boom Minimization. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, vol. 51, no. 2, 1972, pp. 686-694.
  9. Jones, L. B.: Lower Bounds for Sonic Bangs. Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, vol. 65, no. 606, June 1961, pp. 433-436.
  10. Jones, L. B.: Lower Bounds for Sonic Bangs in the Far Field. Aeronautical Quarterly, vol. XVIII, pt. 1, Feb. 1967, pp. 1-21.
  11. Seebass, R.: Minimum Sonic Boom Shock Strengths and Overpressures. Nature, vol. 221, no. 5181, Feb. 15, 1969, pp. 651-653.
  12. George, A. R.: Lower Bounds for Sonic Booms in the Midfield. AIAA Journal, vol. 7, no. 8, Aug. 1969, pp. 1542-1545.
  13. George, A. R.; and Seebass, R.: Sonic Boom Minimization Including Both Front and Rear Shocks. AIAA Journal, vol. 9, no. 10, Oct. 1971, pp. 2091-2903.
  14. Seebass, R.; and George, A. R.: Sonic-Boom Minimization. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 51, no. 2 (pt. 3), Feb. 1972, pp. 686-694.
  15. Darden, Christine M.: Minimization of Sonic-Boom Parameters in Real and Isothermal Atmospheres. NASA Technical Note D-7842, 1975.
  16. Hayes, Wallace D.: Linearized Supersonic Flow. Ph.D. Thesis, California Institute of Technology, 1947. available as AMS Report 852, Princeton University
  17. Lung, Joseph Lui: A Computer Program for the Design of Supersonic Aircraft To Minimize Their Sonic Boom. M.S. Thesis, Cornell University, 1975.
  18. Marconi, Frank; Salas, Manuel; and Yaeger, Larry: Development of a Computer Code for Calculating the Steady Super/Hypersonic Inviscid Flow Around Real Configurations. Volume I - Computational Technique. NASA Contractor Report 2675, 1976.
  19. Plotkin, Kenneth J.; and Grandi, Fabio: Computer Models for Sonic Boom Analysis. PCBOOM4, Wyle Report 02-11.
  20. Busemann, A.: Aerodynamischer Auftreib bei uberschallgeswindigkeit. Proceedings, Volta Congress, pp. 315-317, 1935.
  21. Busemann, A.: The Relation between Minimizing Drag and Noise at Supersonic Speeds. Proceedings, High Speed Aerodynamics, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, pp. 133-144, 1955.
  22. Ryhming, I. L., The Supersonic Boom of a Projectile Related to Drag and Volume. Journal of the Aerospace Sciences, Vol. 28, pp. 113-118, 1961.
  23. McLean, F. Edward: Some Nonasymptotic Effects on the Sonic Boom of Large Airplanes. NASA Technical Note D-2877, June 1965.
  24. Hayes, W. D.: Brief Review of the Basic Theory. Sonic Boom Research, R. Seebass, Ed., NASA Special Publication 147, 1967.
  25. Shrout, Barrett L.; Mack, Robert J.; and Dollyhigh, Samuel M.: A Wind-Tunnel Investigation of Sonic-Boom Pressure Distributions of Bodies of Revolution at Mach 2.96, 3.83, And 4.63. NASA Technical Note D-6195, April 1971.
  26. Seebass, R: Minimum Sonic Boom Shock Strengths and Overpressures. Nature, Vol. 221, pp. 651-653, 1969.
  27. Seebass, R.: Sonic Boom Theory. Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 6, No. 3, 177-584, 1969.
  28. Carlson, Harry W.: Simplified Sonic Boom Prediction. NASA Technical Paper 1122, January 1978.
  29. George, A. R.: Lower Bounds for Sonic Booms in the Midfield. AIAA Journal, Vol. 7, No. 8, p. 1542-1545, 1969.
  30. George, A. R.; and Plotkin, K. J.: Sonic Boom Waveforms and Amplitudes in a Real Atmosphere. AIAA Journal, Vol. 7, No. 10, pp. 1978-1981, 1969.
  31. Jones, L. B.: Lower Bounds for the Pressure Jump of the Bow Shock of a Supersonic Transport. Aeronautical Quarterly, Vol. XXI, pp. 1-17, 1970.
  32. Petty, J. S.: Lower Bounds for Sonic Boom Considering the Negative Overpressure Region, Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 375-377, 1970.
  33. Hayes, W.D., and Weiskopf, F. B., Jr.: Optimum Configurations for Bangless Sonic Booms. Quarterly of Applied Mathematics, Vol. 30, pp. 311-328, 1972.
  34. Seebass, A. R., and George, A. R.: Design and Operation of Aircraft to Minimize Their Sonic Boom. Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 11, No. 9, pp. 509-517, 1974.
  35. Thomas, Charles L.: Extrapolation of Sonic Boom Pressure Signatures by the Waveform Parameter Method. NASA Technical Note D-6832, June 1972.
  36. Darden, Christine M.: Charts for Determining Potential Minimum Sonic Boom Overpressures for Supersonic Cruise Aircraft. NASA Technical Paper 1820, March 1981.
  37. Miller, David S.; and Carlson, Harry W.: A Study of the Applications of Heat or Force Fields to the Sonic-Boom-Minimization Problem. NASA Technical Note D-5582, December 1969.
  38. Warren, C. H. E.: A Note on the Sonic Bang Waveform of an Aircraft with Lift. Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Vol. 67, p. 95, 1963.
  39. Seebass, R.; and McLean, F. E.: Far-Field Sonic Boom Waveforms. AIAA Journal, Vol. 6, No. 6, pp.1153-1155, 1968.
  40. Crow, S. C.; and Bergmeier, G. G.: Active Sonic Boom Control. 1995 NASA High Speed Research Program Sonic Boom Workshop, pp. 68 -111, 1996.
  41. Lomax, Harvard: The Wave Drag of Arbitrary Configurations in Linearized Flow as Determined by Areas and Forces in Oblique Planes. NACA Research Memorandum A55Al8, 1955.
  42. Lomax, Harvard; and Heaslet, M. B.: Recent Developments in the Theory of Wing-Body Wave Drag. Journal of the Aeronautical Sciences, Vol. 23, No. 12, pp. 1061-1074, 1956.
  43. Li, P.; Seebass, R.; and Sobieczky, H.: The Sonic Boom of an Oblique Flying Wing. Proceedings, First Joint CEAS/AIAA Aeroacoustics Conference, Vol. II, pp. 753-760, 1995.
  44. von Kármán, Theodore; and Burgers, J. M.: Aerodynamic Theory, W. F. Durand, ed., Vol. 2, Springer, pp. 172-175, 1934.
  45. Sears, William R.: On Projectiles of Minimum Wave Drag. Quarterly of Applied Mathematics, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 361-366, 1947.
  46. Haack, W.: Geschossformen kleinsten Wellenwiderstandes. Lillenthal-Gesellschaft für Luftfahrt, Bericht 139, pp. 14-28, 1941.
  47. Lighthill, M. J.: The Wave Drag at Zero Lift of Slender Delta Wings and Similar Configurations. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 1, pp. 337, 1965.
  48. Kuchemann, D.: The Aerodynamic Design of Aircraft, Pergamon, Oxford, 1978.
  49. Darden, Christine M.: Sonic Boom Theory: Its Status in Prediction and Minimization. Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 129, No. 6, pp. 569-576, 1977.
  50. Mack, Robert J.; and Darden, Christine M.: Wind Tunnel Investigation of the Validity of a Sonic Boom-Minimization Concept. NASA Technical Paper 1421, October 1979.
  51. Kryter, K. D.: Sonic Boom from Supersonic Transport. Science, Vol. 163, 24 January, pp. 359-367, 1969.
  52. Roskam, J.: Part V: Component Weight Estimation, Airplane Design, Roskam Aviation and Engineering, Ottawa, Kansas, 1989.
  53. Shimbo, et al.: Aerodynamic Design of the Scaled Supersonic Experimental Airplane. International CFD Workshop for Super-Sonic Transport Design, National Aerospace Laboratory, Japan, pp. 62-67, 1998.
  54. Makino, Y., et al.: The Effects of the Body Configuration on the Sonic-Boom Intensity. AIAA Paper No. 96-2466, 1996.
  55. Makino, Y., et al.: Low-Boom Design Method by Numerical Optimization. AIAA Paper No. 98-2246, 1998.
  56. Clarke, J, F.; and McChesney, M.: Dynamics of Real Gases, Butterworths, Washington, 1964.
  57. Vincenti, W. G.; and Kruger, C. H.: Introduction to Physical Gas Dynamics. Wiley, New York, 1965.
  58. Ockendon, H.; and Spence, D. A.: Non-Linear Wave Propagation in a Relaxing Gas. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 39, part 2, pp. 329-345, 1969.
  59. Ryzhov, O. S.: Nonlinear Acoustics of Chemically Active Media. Prikl. Mat. Mekh. (PMM), Vol. 35, No. 6, pp. 1023-1037, 1971.
  60. Hodgson, J. P.: Vibrational Relaxation Effects in Weak Shock Waves in Air and the Structure of Sonic Bangs. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 58, Part 1, pp. 187-196, 1973.
  61. Hung, C. M.; and Seebass, R.: Reflexion of a Weak Shock Wave with Vibrational Relaxation. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 65, Part 2, pp. 337-363, 1974.
  62. Sinai, Y. H.; and Clarke, J. F.: The Wave System Attached to a Finite Slender Body in a Supersonic Relaxing Gas Stream. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 84, Part 4, pp. 717-741, 1978.
  63. Kang, J.: Nonlinear Acoustic Propagation of Shock Waves through the Atmosphere with Molecular Relaxation. Ph. D. Thesis, Pennsylvania State University, 1991.
  64. Pierce, A. D.; and Kang, J.: Molecular Relaxation Effects on Sonic Boom Waveforms. Proceedings of the 12th ISNA Frontiers of Nonlinear Acoustics, M. F. Hamilton and D. T. Blackstock, eds., Elsevier, pp. 165-170, 1990.
  65. Greene, R.: The Market for a Corporate Supersonic Transport. Presentation: High Speed Civil Transport, Why and When?, AAAS Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington (AAAS AS795 audio tape), 1997.

As you get into the subject of sonic boom, you will see that this is not simply a problem of physics and airplane design. The way in which people perceive the sonic boom is equally important. The important thing is to be able to build an airplane that does not induce unfavorable community response leading to prohibition of the vehicle.
Go to a page of references on Subjective Loudness and Community Acceptance.

Public Domain Aeronautical Software (PDAS)