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Sonic booms

FEB 01, 1968
How are sonic booms created? What do they do to people and buildings? Will the future be dominated by the boom?

DOI: 10.1063/1.3034761

Harvey H. Hubbard

SONIC BOOMS are explosive sounds that occur without warning. Sometimes annoying because of their startle effects and their ability to shake buildings, these sounds pose a unique problem for the orderly development of high‐speed air transport. Although booms from military aircraft are widely observed around the world, the real concern is for proposed commercial airtransport operations that will cause repeated booms over very large areas. What are the effects of sonic booms and what steps can be taken to minimize the exposure to a suitable level?

References

  1. 1. G. R. Garinther, J. B. Moreland, Transducer Techniques for Measuring the Effect of Small Arms Noise on Hearing, US Army Human Engineering Labs, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, T. M. No. 11–65 (July, 1965).

  2. 2. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 39, no. 5 (1966), part 2.https://doi.org/JASMAN

  3. 3. Sonic Boom Experiments at Edwards Air Force Base. By Stanford Research Institute, contract AF 49 (638)‐1758 (July, 1967).

  4. 4. E. E. Zepler, J. R. P. Harel, J. Sound and Vibration 2, 249 (1965).https://doi.org/JSVIAG

  5. 5. Material Res. Std. 4, no. 11 (1964).

  6. 6. C. W. Nixon, H. H. Hubbard, Results of USAF‐NASA‐FAA Flight Program to Study Community Responses to Sonic Booms in the Greater St. Louis Area. NASA TN D‐2705 (1965).

  7. 7. The Effects of Sonic Boom on Structural Behavior, SST Rept. No. 65‐18, prepared for Federal Aviation Agency by J. Blume & Assoc. (1965).

More about the Authors

Harvey H. Hubbard. Langley Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

This Content Appeared In
pt-cover_1968_02.jpeg

Volume 21, Number 2

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