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Workshop 9
Robust Design DesignXplorer
Min. Life for a Titanium Turbine Blade

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Goals: Based on stress and fatigue analysis we

wish to optimize the minimum life for the
titanium turbine blade shown here.

Z
X

Problem setup: The optimal X and Y location

for the blade will first be determined by holding
the fillet radius constant and running a DX DOE
optimization for minimum fatigue life. After
determining this optimal location we will
account for manufacturing uncertainty in a Six
Sigma Analysis. Finally we will use Robust
Design to determine the optimum fillet radius
given the uncertainty.
The airfoil root is a fillet radius which
represents a design variable.
The analysis and fatigue preparation is detailed
on the next several slides. The workshop uses
the Simulation database as a starting point for
our robust design.

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An initial set of parametric values has been

chosen:
Xtilt = 1.5
Ytilt = 1.0
Radius = 0.25

A preliminary analysis has been completed using

the Simulation Fatigue tool to determine fatigue
life. Each cycle represents one startup
sequence for the unit from 0 to 7000 rpm.

Note: throughout this workshop the effect of mesh

density, number of statistical samples, etc. has been
largely ignored in the interest of time. The results
obtained in repeating this workshop may not exactly
match those show in the accompanying figures. In
actual practice, as with any analysis, proper care should
be given when addressing each of these.

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The preliminary analysis predicts a minimum fatigue life to be 1591 cycles for this
configuration (note, the result has been scoped only to the blade surfaces shown here).
Minimum fatigue life has been made parametric in order to proceed with the study.

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An initial DOE study will be performed on the blade

to determine the initial configuration for the X and
Y blade tilt.
From the project page choose New DesignXplorer
study.
When prompted, Save the database file to proceed.

Initially we wish to optimize the blades angular

location (x and y tilt). For this study uncheck the
fillet radius to remove it from the process.
The 2 input parameters will be treated as design
parameters and we will allow a +/- 10% variation in
their values (default).

From the top menu choose Run > Solve

Automatic Design Points.
Note: with 2 input parameters the DOE method will evaluate
9 solutions to build a response surface.

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When the solutions are complete the response

surface can be viewed by highlighting the
Responses view.
As the response surface indicates there
appears to be an optimal location for the
minimum fatigue life. That is, a particular
combination of x and y tilt that will result in a
maximum fatigue life.

We could, of course query the response surface

to find this location but the Goals Driven
Optimization (GDO) feature is ideal for this task.

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To use the GDO feature we must first generate a

sample set from the response surface.
Switch to the Goals Driven Optimization view.

For this workshops we will generate a set

based on 1000 samples.
Choose 1000 and Generate.

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From the sample set we can now generate candidate designs based on goals of our choosing.
Select Maximum Possible as a desired value for Life Minimum.
Generate the candidate designs.

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Recall our initial analysis predicted a minimum

fatigue life of approximately 1600 cycles. The
candidates from this DOE study indicate we can
improve the fatigue life. The optimum
configuration chosen is:
Xtilt = 1.58
Ytilt = 0.9

Well use this information to proceed with the

Six Sigma Analysis.

Return to Simulation and insert the geometry

parameters.

From the geometry menu choose to Update:

Use Simulation Parameter Values.
When updated, Solve this configuration.

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Design For Six Sigma: We have

determined that the minimum fatigue life
in the model is approximately 38,000
cycles. However several of our input
parameters represent uncertainty
variables thus there will be some
variation in this minimum life. The
response variation will be represented
by some distribution (see right).

For example the data shown here is

based on a Gaussian distribution of the
X and Y tilt with the fillet radius held
constant. As can be seen, the
probability that the blade will fail is
represented by a function related to the
input variation.
Previously our deterministic study
predicted a single value for minimum
life. With the uncertainty included we
can see that figure can be as low as 722
cycles.
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Minimum Life

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With the new analysis complete return to the

Project page and choose to start a New
DesignXplorer study.
When prompted Save the existing study.
For this study we wish to account for
manufacturing uncertainty in our optimal tilt
values. Switch the parameters ds_xtilt and
ds_ytilt to be Uncertainty Variables. Well
leave the distribution type as Gaussian and use
the default ranges.
For this study we also include the fillet radius
ds_rootrad as a design variable with a +/- 20%
range.

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From the top menu choose Run then Solve

Automatic Design Points. With 3 input
parameters DX will perform 15 solutions.

In order to complete a robust design study we

must first generate a six sigma analysis (SSA)
sample set and flag the uncertainty in the
response as parametric.

Highlight the Six Sigma Analysis view.

Activate 1000 and generate the sample set.

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With the sample set generated select the Life

Minimum response from the drop down list.

Based on maintenance schedules, warranty,

etc. it has been determined that a fatigue life of
4500 cycles is acceptable. As the probability
table shows, this represents approximately a 3
sigma level. Well base our robust design
around this level. This level represents a
design point where 99.9 % of our samples
perform acceptably.

Enter 0.001 in the field and choose Insert New

Probability Value.

With the new entry in the table toggle the P to

make the minimum life for this probability
parametric.

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With six sigma parameters flagged notice the

Robust Design view is now available.
Robust Design contains a Goals and Candidates
section much like the main GDO view used
previously.

To perform a Robust Design we must again

generate a sample set based on the DFSS
responses calculated earlier.

Activate 100 for the sample size and Generate.

Note: as shown, to generate 100 samples DX must

perform 100,000 evaluations of the DFSS response
surface.

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The goals and candidates used in robust design are obtained

by evaluating a number of screening samples from the SSA.
Set the desired value for life to Maximum Possible
Candidate designs can be generated based on the stated goals.

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Conclusion: Recall that our initial configuration resulted in a predicted minimum fatigue life of
around 1600 cycles. In addition we had no feel for the predictability of this number. After
completing the Robust Design we have improved the performance (minimum life) but can now
attach a level of confidence to that prediction.

Initial Results
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Final Results
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