Keynote Speaker
Prof. Ramesh K. Agarwal
Washington University in St. Louis, USA
Speech title: Prediction, Minimization and Propagation of Sonic Boom from Supersonic Bodies
Abstract: This presentation will first describe the numerical simulation and shape optimization of the Lockheed SEEB-ALR and 69 degree Delta wing-body for computing the sonic boom signature in the nearfield and its minimization using a genetic algorithm. Then the propagation of sonic boom in the atmosphere all the way to the ground for both the original and optimized body shapes will be discussed. For flow field calculation, the commercial CFD flow solver ANSYS Fluent is employed. The near field pressure disturbance is used to determine the strength of the sonic boom signature. The computational results for the two cases are compared with the experimental data. The body shapes are then optimized using a single-objective genetic algorithm. The results show a significant decrease in strength of the sonic boom. The pressure data from these two models is then scaled and propagated through the atmosphere using the NASA Langley Research Center code sBOOM to predict the far field signature of these bodies at the scale of a commercial supersonic aircraft. These validated building blocks of CFD technology for prediction, minimization and propagation of sonic boom can then be employed to optimize the NASA/Lockheed supersonic transport aircraft X-59QueSST which has been demonstrated to have sonic boom signature on ground as a gentle thump while flying at 954mph (Mach~1.25) at 55,000 ft. above land.
Bio.: Professor Ramesh K. Agarwal is the William Palm Professor of Engineering in the department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Washington University in St. Louis. From 1994 to 2001, he was the Sam Bloomfield Distinguished Professor and Executive Director of the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University in Kansas. From 1978 to 1994, he was the Program Director and McDonnell Douglas Fellow at McDonnell Douglas Research Laboratories in St. Louis. Dr. Agarwal received Ph.D in Aeronautical Sciences from Stanford University in 1975, M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1969 and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India in 1968. Over a period of forty five years, Professor Agarwal has worked in various areas of Computational Science and Engineering - Computational Fluid Dynamics, Computational Materials Science, Computational Acoustics and Electromagnetics, Control and Systems Theory, and Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization. He is the author and coauthor of over 600 journal and refereed conference publications. He has given many plenary, keynote and invited lectures at various national and international conferences worldwide in over fifty countries. Professor Agarwal continues to serve on many academic, government, and industrial advisory committees. Dr. Agarwal is a Fellow twenty two societies including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Physical Society (APS), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Royal Aeronautical Society, Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics (CSAA), and American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). He has received many prestigious honors and national/international awards from various professional societies and organizations for his research contributions including the AIAA Reeds Aeronautics Award, SAE Medal of Honor, ASME Honorary Membership and Honorary Fellowship from Royal Aeronautical Society.