Supersonic Flight Profile Guidance for Sonic Boom Limits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current supersonic aircraft flight regulations limit or prohibit flying over land due to sonic boom concerns, which reduces flight efficiency and increases flight time, as existing technologies fail to effectively mitigate sonic boom noise levels on the ground.
Innovation Solution
An adaptive system in an aircraft that uses processors to predict and display optimal speed and altitude profiles, incorporating a sonic boom prediction model to ensure that flight paths minimize sonic boom impact, allowing flight crews to adjust altitudes and speeds to maintain acceptable noise levels, thereby providing real-time guidance on safe supersonic flight over land.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If supersonic flight is conducted over land, then flight time is reduced and productivity is improved, but sonic boom noise levels increase causing harmful effects on the ground
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts flight parameters (altitude, speed, Mach number) to modify the sonic boom characteristics. By changing these parameters in real-time based on terrain and population data, the system reduces ground noise levels while maintaining supersonic flight efficiency and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic control of flight parameters rather than static profiles. The flight management system continuously monitors and adjusts altitude, speed, and other parameters adaptively to minimize sonic boom impact on populated areas while maintaining optimal flight performance.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If altitude is increased to reduce sonic boom impact, then noise levels on ground are reduced, but fuel consumption increases and flight efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system optimizes the relationship between altitude and speed parameters to reduce sonic boom impact without excessive fuel consumption. By adjusting multiple parameters simultaneously (not just altitude), the system finds efficient operating points that balance noise reduction with fuel economy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies altitude adjustments only when and where necessary to reduce sonic boom impact, rather than maintaining consistently high altitude throughout the flight. This partial action approach minimizes unnecessary fuel consumption while still achieving noise reduction goals in populated areas.
3Productivity
If speed is increased to maintain flight efficiency, then productivity is improved, but sonic boom intensity increases causing greater noise impact on ground
Solution Approach 1:
The system adjusts speed and Mach number parameters dynamically to balance flight efficiency with sonic boom intensity reduction. By coordinating speed changes with altitude and other parameter adjustments, the system maintains productive flight while reducing ground noise impact in populated areas.
Data Source
AI summary
An adaptive system in an aircraft for presenting speed and altitude recommendations for supersonic flight on an aircraft display unit is provided. The system is configured to: predict, based on received aircraft sensor inputs from on board aircraft sensors, an optimum speed and altitude profile while flying in a supersonic phase of flight between a plurality of waypoints for the current aircraft model, wind conditions, and mission; and determine using a SONIC boom prediction model whether the optimum speed and altitude profile would cause an acceptable BOOM effect per a predefined BOOM effect threshold limit during flight between the plurality of waypoints, wherein a BOOM effect is a perceived sound level on land due to unrestricted supersonic flight over land, and wherein a BOOM effect threshold limit is an acceptable perceived sound level on land due to supersonic flight over land.