Rapid Aerodynamic Performance Maps and Their Use for Transonic Aircraft Concept Studies

Accurate prediction of wave drag and drag divergence behavior at a targeted induced drag level is essential in the conceptual design of transonic aircraft configurations. This study presents AeroMap, a reduced-fidelity, physics-based framework for rapid aerodynamic performance map generation, developed to assess the transonic aerodynamic characteristics of wing-body configurations, with a focus on high-aspect-ratio wings. The developed framework integrates Viscous Full-Potential (VFP) modelling with a parametric wing-body generator to enable the efficient prediction of drag divergence behavior and shock properties across a wide range of operating conditions. Aerodynamic performance maps are generated which include variation of vortex, viscous and wave drag, together with pitching moment and insights for onset of flow separation. In addition the framework provides key performance boundaries, including the one-count wave drag and drag divergence boundaries. The framework is validated using the NASA-CRM wing-body configuration with wind tunnel data from NASA Langley Transonic Facility. Over a wide range of transonic operating conditions, the AeroMap model demonstrates good agreement with experimental drag data. Its low computational cost and ability to model key transonic flow features make it an effective tool for generating reliable aerodynamic databases that inform data-driven models and facilitate efficient early-stage aircraft design decisions.