초록 ▼

Methods for configuring aircraft that may be implemented to integrate aircraft sonic boom constraint requirements with the design process for a supersonic aircraft, for example, to reconcile a target sonic boom constraint with the internal layout and balance of the aircraft during the design phase.

Methods for configuring aircraft that may be implemented to integrate aircraft sonic boom constraint requirements with the design process for a supersonic aircraft, for example, to reconcile a target sonic boom constraint with the internal layout and balance of the aircraft during the design phase. The disclosed methods may advantageously be employed in one embodiment to allow a sonic boom-constrained aircraft design configuration solution to be reached that incorporates a desired sonic boom signature with the requirements of an internal configuration layout. Resulting aircraft configurations may be usefully employed for achieving sonic boom suppression on any type of supersonic-capable aircraft, for example, a civil supersonic business aircraft.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A method of configuring an aircraft with external and internal components, said method comprising: a) defining a target sonic boom signature for said aircraft; b) determining a target distribution of total equivalent area based at least in part on said target sonic boom signa

What is claimed is: 1. A method of configuring an aircraft with external and internal components, said method comprising: a) defining a target sonic boom signature for said aircraft; b) determining a target distribution of total equivalent area based at least in part on said target sonic boom signature; c) defining a configuration of one or more external airframe components for said aircraft, said one or more external airframe components comprising a wing configuration having a corresponding distribution of equivalent area due to lift; d) determining an equivalent body area distribution for said aircraft based at least in part on said target distribution of total equivalent area and said distribution of equivalent area due to lift for said defined wing configuration; e) defining a location of one or more selected internal aircraft components within an available cross sectional area represented by said determined equivalent body area distribution; f) determining if sufficient cross sectional area exists for said defined location of said one or more selected internal aircraft components of step e) within said available cross sectional area represented by said determined equivalent body area distribution of step d), and if insufficient area is determined to exist for said defined location of said one or more selected internal aircraft components within said available cross sectional area, then redefining a configuration of one or more of said external airframe components of step c) for said aircraft to determine a revised distribution of equivalent area due to lift for said aircraft; and g) repeating steps d) through f) until sufficient cross sectional area is determined to exist for said defined location of said one or more selected internal aircraft components of step e) within an available cross sectional area represented by said determined equivalent body area distribution of step d). 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: h) determining a location of center of lift based at least in part on said configuration of one or more external airframe components defined in step c); i) determining a range of center of gravity based at least in part on said configuration of said one or more external airframe components defined in step c) and on said location of said one or more internal aircraft components defined in step e); j) determining if said location of said center of lift determined in step h) is within said range of center of gravity determined in step i), and if said location of said center of lift is determined not to be within said range of center of gravity, then redefining a configuration of one or more of said external airframe components of step c) for said aircraft to determine a revised distribution of equivalent area due to lift for said aircraft; and k) repeating steps d) through j) until a location of said center of lift determined in step h) is determined to be within said range of center of gravity determined in step i). 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: l) determining a sonic boom signature based on a configuration of external airframe components determined according to step k); m) comparing said determined sonic boom signature to said target sonic boom signature; n) accepting or rejecting said determined sonic boom signature based on said comparison of step m), and if said determined sonic boom signature is rejected then redefining a configuration of one or more of said external airframe components of step c) for said aircraft to determine a revised distribution of equivalent area due to lift for said aircraft; and o) repeating steps d) through n) until said determined sonic boom signature is accepted. 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: p) determining at least one performance characteristic other than sonic boom signature based on a configuration of external airframe components and internal aircraft components determined according to step o); q) comparing said determined performance characteristic to a corresponding target performance characteristic; r) accepting or rejecting said configuration of external airframe components and internal aircraft components determined according to step o) based on said comparison of step q), and if said configuration of external airframe components and internal aircraft components determined according to step o) is rejected, then redefining a configuration of one or more of said external airframe components of step c) for said aircraft to determine a revised distribution of equivalent area due to lift for said aircraft; and s) repeating steps d) through r) until said configuration of external airframe components and internal aircraft components determined according to step o) is accepted. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said step a) further comprises defining two or more target design requirements for said aircraft, at least one of said target design requirements comprising said target sonic boom signature, and at least one other of said two or more target design requirements comprising a target design requirement that is different than said target sonic boom signature; and wherein said step b) further comprises determining said target distribution of total equivalent area based at least in part on said two or more target design requirements. 6. An aircraft comprising external and internal components configured according to the method of claim 2. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said aircraft comprises a passenger aircraft. 8. An aircraft configuration according to the method of claim 2, said aircraft configuration comprising: a wing planform, a lift distribution, a body area distribution, an internal aircraft component layout and an external airframe component configuration; wherein said wing planform, said lift distribution, said body area distribution, said internal aircraft component layout and said external airframe component configuration are together configured to meet said target sonic boom signature; wherein said aircraft configuration is configured to provide adequate internal volume for said internal aircraft component layout according to steps (f) and (g); and wherein said aircraft configuration is configured to have a center of lift within a range of center of gravity according to steps (j) and (k). 9. A software or hardware-based aircraft design tool, comprising: an input means for accepting information from a user; a display means for displaying information to said user; and a computing means for implementing the method of claim 1 by accepting said information from said user and by displaying said information to said user. 10. A method of configuring an aircraft with external and internal components based on a given target distribution of total equivalent area, said method comprising: a) defining a configuration of one or more external airframe components for said aircraft, said one or more external airframe components comprising a wing configuration having a corresponding distribution of equivalent area due to lift; b) determining an equivalent body area distribution for said aircraft based at least in part on said given target distribution of total equivalent area and said distribution of equivalent area due to lift for said defined wing configuration, said given target distribution of total equivalent area corresponding to a given target sonic boom signature; c) defining a location of one or more selected internal aircraft components within an available cross sectional area represented by said determined equivalent body area distribution; d) determining if sufficient cross sectional area exists for said defined location of said one or more selected internal aircraft components of step c) within said available cross sectional area represented by said determined equivalent body area distribution of step b), and if insufficient area is determined to exist for said defined location of said one or more selected internal aircraft components within said available cross sectional area, then redefining a configuration of one or more of said external airframe components of step a) for said aircraft to determine a revised distribution of equivalent area due to lift for said aircraft; and e) repeating steps b) through d) until sufficient cross sectional area is determined to exist for said defined location of said one or more selected internal aircraft components of step c) within an available cross sectional area represented by said determined equivalent body area distribution of step b). 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: f) determining a location of center of lift based at least in part on said configuration of one or more external airframe components defined in step a); g) determining a range of center of gravity based at least in part on said configuration of said one or more external airframe components defined in step a) and on said location of said one or more internal aircraft components defined in step c); h) determining if said location of said center of lift determined in step f) is within said range of center of gravity determined in step g), and if said location of said center of lift is determined not to be within said range of center of gravity, then redefining a configuration of one or more of said external airframe components of step a) for said aircraft to determine a revised distribution of equivalent area due to lift for said aircraft; and i) repeating steps b) through h) until a location of said center of lift determined in step f) is determined to be within said range of center of gravity determined in step g). 12. An aircraft comprising external and internal components configured according to the method of claim 11. 13. The method of claim 10, wherein said aircraft comprises a passenger aircraft. 14. The method of claim 10, wherein one or more of said steps a) through e) are dynamically performed in real time using an automated or partially automated software or hardware tool. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein one or more of said steps a) through e) comprises accepting information from a user via a graphical user interface. 16. The method of claim 14, wherein one or more of said steps a) through e) comprises displaying graphical information to a user in real time. 17. A software or hardware-based aircraft design tool, comprising: an input means for accepting information from a user; a display means for displaying information to said user; and a computing means for implementing the method of claim 10 by accepting said information from said user and by displaying said information to said user.