Conceptual Design of Conventional and Oblique Wing Configurations for Small Supersonic Aircraft

A design process that included high and low fidelity modeling integrated through Kriging-based fits of the high fidelity results was developed and demonstrated on conventional and oblique wing designs. Additional design variables are required when higher fidelity models are introduced, and rather than sub-optimize the design (for example using additional design variables to minimize drag), the Kriging models allowed the additional degrees of freedom to be included in the fully integrated model at acceptable cost. Although the basic conceptual design method was not designed to accommodate oblique wings, the use of response surface models allowed such designs to be included with little modification of the design code. The method generated reasonable conventional designs, although at Mach 1.6, the range and field length constraints are critical and the field length chosen here is arguably acceptable. The oblique wing designs show little advantage in cruise performance at this design speed, but the low speed performance is exceptional and leads to an interesting design concept. Relative advantages of the oblique wing increase as field length requirements are tightened and as the required cruise Mach number is reduced.