Overview of Sonic Boom Reduction Efforts on the Lockheed Martin N+2 Supersonic Validations Program

摘要

Under the N+2 Supersonic Validations contract with NASA, Lockheed Martin has developed system-level solutions to the barriers to supersonic commercial flight, with a particular focus on the technology required to design and validate shaped sonic boom vehicles for acceptably quiet flight over land. LM's past experience, commercial design and analysis tool advances, commercial partner expertise and NASA methodologies were successfully combined in the shaped boom design process. In the second phase of the N+2 program, we continued the work started in Phase 1 by improving low-boom performance over the full boom carpet and adding fidelity to the design in key areas including structures and aeroelastics. NASA's support for extensive validation testing uncovered the cause of prior long-standing difficulties with sonic boom wind tunnel measurement, and resulted in the development of a "spatial averaging" solution that combines better than required accuracy with an order-of-magnitude improvement in productivity. The LM 1044 configuration designed and tested during this program has demonstrated that it is possible to develop an environmentally compliant, practical, and high efficiency supersonic transport aircraft for the next generation of air travelers.