Overview and Comparison of Gaussian Process-Based Surrogate Models for Mixed Continuous and Discrete Variables: Application on Aerospace Design Problems

Surrogate modeling is an increasingly popular tool for engineering design as it enables to model the performance of very complex systems with a limited computational cost. A large number of techniques exists for the surrogate modeling of continuous functions, however, only a very few methods for the surrogate modeling of mixed continuous/discrete functions have been developed. In this chapter, existing adaptations and variants of Gaussian process-based surrogate modeling techniques for mixed continuous/discrete variables are described, discussed and compared on several analytical test-cases and aerospace design problems.