Patent Document ID: 10146903
Application ID: 14938406
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented sonic boom prediction method for use in designing a supersonic aircraft, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of parameters for a supersonic aircraft, the plurality of parameters comprising physical parameters and performance parameters; partitioning a near field region of the supersonic aircraft into a first region and a second region, wherein the first region extends to a first distance from the supersonic aircraft, and wherein the second region extends from the first distance to a second distance; generating a three-dimensional (3D) flow field around the supersonic aircraft for at least one airspeed and at least one flight altitude, wherein generating the 3D flow field comprises: generating a first flow field for the first region using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model; and generating a second flow field for the second region using a propagation model, wherein the first flow field generated using the CFD model is used as a boundary condition for the propagation model; estimating sonic boom signatures on a ground surface using a long distance sonic boom propagation model, wherein the second flow field using the propagation model is used as an initial condition for the long distance sonic boom propagation model; and adjusting one or more of the plurality of parameters of the supersonic aircraft to reduce the estimated sonic boom signatures.