A method for constructing supersaturated designs and its Es2 optimality

A lower bound for the Es2 value of an arbitrary supersaturated design is derived. A general method for constructing supersaturated designs is proposed and shown to produce designs with n runs and m = k(n — 1) factors that achieve the lower bound for Es2 and are thus optimal with respect to the Es2 criterion. Within the class of designs given by the construction method, further discrimination can be made by minimizing the pairwise correlations and using the generalized D and A criteria proposed by Wu (1993). Efficient designs of 12, 16, 20 and 24 runs are constructed by following this approach.