AN ANALYSIS OF THE POSSIBILITY OF REDUCTION OF SONIC BOOM BY ELECTRO-AERODYNAMIC DEVICES,

Abstract : The purpose of the paper is to investigate the physics of electro-aerodynamic techniques for reducing the sonic boom and to draw conclusions as to the usefulness of the proposed techniques. An analysis of the interaction of ions and electrons of an electric discharge with neutral particles in moving air according to a one-dimensional model is described and analyzed. A simple expression for the change of total stream thrust by the electric wind mechanism is given. The electric power required for maintaining the discharge is calculated. With these basic results, the specific power requirement of the electro-aerodynamic devices proposed for deflecting the oncoming air of the supersonic transport is evaluated to be of the order of 1 watt/dyne (1/2 megawatt/pound force). For 10% change of boom intensity by electro-aerodynamic deflection of the oncoming stream thrust, a commercial supersonic transport requires of the order of thousands of megawatts of electric power. At the specific weight of 1 pound per kilowatt, clearly the electric equipment is beyond payload capability. (Author)