An optimization of energy addition to suppress the coalescence of the shock waves

A sonic boom problem has been a major inhibitor in the development of the supersonic/hypersonic vehicles flying over the ground. Pulsed energy addition upstream of a flying object is one of the active suppression methods to eliminate the sonic boom. Pulsed energy addition approach is investigated to suppress the coalescence of the shock waves and weaken the shock strength. To explore the efficiency of the proposed method, a numerical optimization methodology with off-body energy addition upstream of oblique shocks has been conducted in a Mach 2.6 flow. The dynamics of the interactions among the oblique shocks and pulsed wave were analyzed and the results from the near-field region were propagated through the Thomas code down to ground. These results suggest an essential chance to enable sonic boom reduction using an active control based on pulse shock generated by energy addition upstream of supersonic aircraft.