Background Pressure Profiles for Sonic Boom Vehicle Testing in the NASA Glenn 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel

In an effort to identify test facilities that offer sonic boom measurement capabilities, an exploratory test program was initiated using wind tunnels at NASA research centers. The subject of this report is the sonic boom pressure rail data collected in the Glenn Research Center 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel. The purpose is to summarize the lessons learned based on the test activity, specifically relating to collecting sonic boom data which has a large amount of spatial pressure variation. The wind tunnel background pressure profiles are presented as well as data which demonstrated how both wind tunnel Mach number and model support-strut position affected the wind tunnel background pressure profile. Techniques were developed to mitigate these effects and are presented.