Aerodynamic/Sonic Boom Performance Evaluation of Innovative Supersonic Transport Configurations

In this research, biplane wing/twin-body fuselage innovative configurations are discussed as a next-generation supersonic transport candidate. Those aerodynamic performance as well as sonic boom performance are investigated by using numerical approaches. The aerodynamic performance is evaluated by inviscid compressible Euler equations using an unstructured mesh finite-volume method, and then the sonic boom performance is evaluated by an augmented Burgers equation. Thanks to the successful interactions of shock waves between the biplane wing as well as the twin-body fuselages, remarkable drag reduction and better sonic boom performance have been realized simultaneously at our design Mach number of 1.7. The superiority of the proposed supersonic transport configuration over conventional configurations is clearly demonstrated.