Document Type
Article
Department or Administrative Unit
Physics
Publication Date
1-2002
Abstract
The propagation and subsequent distortion of sonic booms with rippled wave fronts are investigated theoretically using a nonlinear time-domain finite-difference scheme. This work seeks to validate the rippled wave front approach as a method for explaining the significant effects of turbulence on sonic booms [A. S. Pierce and D. J. Maglieri, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 51, 702–721 (1971)]. A very simple description of turbulence is employed in which velocity perturbations within a shallow layer of the atmosphere form strings of vortices characterized by their size and speed. Passage of a steady-state plane shock front through such a vortex layer produces a periodically rippled wave front which, for the purposes of the present investigation, serves as the initial condition for a finite-difference propagation scheme. Results show that shock strength and ripple curvature determine whether ensuing propagation leads to wave front folding. High resolution images of the computed full wave field provide insights into the spiked and rounded features seen in sonic booms that have propagated through turbulence.
Recommended Citation
Piacsek, A. A. (2002). Atmospheric turbulence conditions leading to focused and folded sonic boom wave fronts. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 111(1), 520–529. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1377631
Journal
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Rights
© 2002 Acoustical Society of America.
Comments
This article was originally published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.