The Experimental Response of Simple Structures to Simulated Sonic Booms

The paper presents results obtained from an idealised model of a window under the influence of a sonic boom. The window was represented by a simply supported steel panel mounted at the end of an explosive-driven shock tube. In order to realise a simply supported panel the problem of providing edge support without clamping, damping or membrane stresses had to be overcome. The final panel had less than 1% critical damping and had a Tesonant frequency within 4% of the theoretical value. The panel strain was measured when it was subjected both to continuous wave and transient acoustic excitation.

The continuous wave strain is within 5% of the theoretical value calculated from a modal theory. This theory, in conjunction with the DUHAMEL integral, also gives a prediction of the transient strain time-history which is in good agreement with the experimental curves.