Application Chapter 3.

1:
Introduction to DesingXplorer
Optimization

Master’s Degree in Numerical Simulation in Engineering with ANSYS

1 Master’s Degree in Numerical Simulation in Engineering with ANSYS 2nd EDITION
Universidad Politécnica
© 2014 ANSYS, Inc. de Madrid - ANSYS
 Contents

1. Introduction to DesignXplorer 3
2. User Interface 18
3. Parameters 26
4. Design and Response Points 32
5. Workflow 35

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 Contents

1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
2. User Interface
3. Parameters
4. Design and Response Points
5. Workflow

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 Introduction to DesignXplorer
Because a good design point is often the result of a trade-off between various objectives,
the exploration of a given design cannot be performed by using optimization algorithms
that lead to a single design point. It is important to gather enough information about the
current design so as to be able to answer the so-called “what-if” questions – quantifying the
influence of design variables on the performance of the product in an exhaustive manner.
By doing so, the right decisions can be made based on accurate information - even in the
event of an unexpected change in the design constraints.
Design exploration describes the relationship between the design variables and the
performance of the product by using Design of Experiments (DOE), combined with response
surfaces. DOE and response surfaces provide all of the information required to achieve
Simulation Driven Product Development. Once the variation of the performance with
respect to the design variables is known, it becomes easy to understand and identify all
changes required to meet the requirements for the product. Once the response surfaces
are created, the information can be shared in easily understandable terms: curves, surfaces,
sensitivities, etc. They can be used at any time during the development of the product
without requiring additional simulations to test a new configuration.

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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Introduction to DesignXplorer
DesignXplorer is a powerful approach to explore, understand and optimize your engineering
challenges.
• Determine the key parameters influencing the design
• Explore and understand the performance at other design or operating conditions
• Find the conditions which give the best performance
• Explore the robustness of the design

Response
Single Point What If? Surface
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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Introduction to DesignXplorer
• Single solution leaves you with many
What if Study
questions…
Manual Search

Sensitivity /
• What-if analysis: Correlation Analysis
Find the relevant parameters
• From a limited set of design points, try
to understand the variation of the Design of Experiments
output parameters Run a smart set of Design Points
• Or find a good design from a trial & error
process Response Surface
Build a Mathematical model

• Response surfaces Optimization

With or without a Response Surface
• From a given set of design points, create
transfer functions that describe the
continuous relationship between input Robust Design
Six Sigma Analysis
and output parameters
• Find a good design from curves,
sensitivity plots or optimization
techniques
Optimized and Robust Design

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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Available Tools
DesignXplorer has a powerful suite of DOE schemes:

• Central Composite Design (CCD)

• Optimal Space-Filling Design (OSF)
• Box-Behnken Design
• Custom
• Custom + Sampling
• Sparse Grid Initialization
• Latin Hypercube Sampling Design (LHS)

CCD provides a traditional DOE sampling set, while Optimal Space-Filling’s objective is to
gain the maximum insight with the fewest number of points, a feature that is very useful
when the computation time available to the user is limited.

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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Available Tools
After sampling, design exploration provides several different meta-models to represent the
simulation’s responses. The following types of response surfaces are available:
• Standard Response Surface – Full 2nd-Order Polynomial
• Kriging
• Non-Parametric Regression
• Neural Network
• Sparse Grid

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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Available Tools
Once the simulations are characterized, DesignXplorer supplies the following types of
optimization algorithms:
• Shifted Hammersley Sampling (Screening)
• Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA)
• Nonlinear Programming by Quadratic Lagrangian (NLPQL)
• Mixed-Integer Sequential Quadratic Programming (MISQP)
• Adaptive Single-Objective Optimization (ASO)
• Adaptive Multiple-Objective Optimization (AMO)
• External Optimizers

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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Design Exploration
Initial Simulation: Analysis of the Product Under all Operating Conditions
The first step of any design simulation is to create the simulation model. The simulation
model can use anything from a single physics up to a complex multiphysics simulation
involving multiple conditions and physics coupling.
In addition to performing the standard simulation, this step is also used to define the
parameters to be investigated. The input parameters (also called design variables) are
identified, and may include CAD parameters, loading conditions, material properties, etc.
The output parameters (also called performance indicators) are chosen from the simulation
results and may include maximum stresses, fluid pressure, velocities, temperatures, or
masses, and can also be custom defined. Product cost could be a custom defined parameter
based on masses, manufacturing constraints, etc.
CAD parameters are defined from a CAD package or from the ANSYS DesignModeler
application. Material properties are found in the Engineering Data section of the project,
while other parameters will have their origin in the simulation model itself. Output
parameters will be defined from the various simulation environments (mechanics, CFD,
etc.). Custom parameters are defined directly in the Parameter Set tab accessed via
the Parameter Set bar in the Project Schematic.
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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Design Exploration
Identify Design Candidates
Once the initial model has been created and parameters defined, the next step in the
session is to create a response surface. After inserting a Response Surface system in the
project, you need to define the design space by giving the minimum and maximum values
to be considered for each of the input variables. Based on this information, the Design of
Experiment (DOE) part of the Response Surface system will create the design space
sampling. Note that this sampling depends upon the choice made for the DOE scheme –
usually, the default CCD scheme will provide good accuracy for the final approximation.
Then, the DOE needs to be computed.
Once the DOE has been updated, a response surface is created for each output parameter.
A response surface is an approximation of the response of the system. Its accuracy depends
on several factors: complexity of the variations of the output parameters, number of points
in the original DOE, and choice of the response surface type. Several main types of response
surfaces are available in DesignXplorer. As a starting point, the Standard Response Surface
(based on a modified quadratic formulation) will provide satisfying results when the
variations of the output parameters is mild, while the Kriging scheme will be used for
stronger variations.

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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Design Exploration
Identify Design Candidates
After the response surfaces have been computed, the design can be thoroughly
investigated using a variety of graphical and numerical tools, and valid design points
identified by optimization techniques.
Usually, the investigation will start with the sensitivity graphs. This bar or pie chart will
graphically show how much the output parameters are locally influenced by the input
parameters around a given response point. Note that varying the location of the response
point may provide totally different graphs. Thinking of the hill/valley analogy, if the
response point is in a flat valley, the influence of the input parameters will be small. If the
point is at the top of a steep hill, the influence of the parameters will be strong. The
sensitivity graphs provide the first indication about the relative influence of the input
parameters.
The response surfaces will provide curves or surfaces that show the variation of one output
parameter with respect to one or two input parameters at a time. These curves/surfaces
also are dependent on the response point.

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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Design Exploration
Identify Design Candidates
Both sensitivity charts and response surfaces are key tools for the analyst to be able to
answer the “What-if” questions (“What parameter should we change if we want to reduce
the cost?”).
DesignXplorer provides additional tools to identify design candidates. While they could be
determined by a thorough investigation of the curves, it might be convenient to be guided
automatically to some interesting candidates. Access to optimization techniques that will
find design candidates from the response surfaces or other components containing design
points is provided by the Goal Driven Optimization (GDO) systems. There are two types of
GDO systems: Response Surface Optimization and Direct Optimization. These systems can
be dragged and dropped over an existing Response Surface system so as to share this
portion of the data. For Direct Optimization, data transfer links can be created between the
Optimization component and any system or component containing design points. Several
GDO systems can be inserted in the project, which is useful if several hypotheses are to be
analyzed.

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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Design Exploration
Identify Design Candidates
Once a GDO system has been introduced, the optimization study needs to be defined,
which includes choosing the optimization method, setting the objectives and constraints,
and specifying the domain. Then the optimization problem can be solved. In many cases,
there will not be a unique solution to the optimization problem, and several candidates will
be identified. The results of the optimization process is also very likely to provide
candidates that cannot be manufactured (a radius of 9.14523 mm is probably hard to
achieve!). But since all information about the variability of the output parameters is
provided by the source of design point data, whether a response surface or another
DesignXplorer component, it becomes easy to find a design candidate close to the one
indicated by the optimization process that will be acceptable.
As a good practice, it is also recommended to check the accuracy of the response surface
for the design candidates. To do so, the candidate should be verified by a design point
update, so as to check the validity of the output parameters.

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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Design Exploration
Assess the Robustness of the Design Candidates
Once one or several design points have been identified, the probabilistic analysis will help
quantify the reliability or quality of the product by means of a statistical analysis.
Probabilistic analysis typically involves four areas of statistical variability: geometric shape,
material properties, loading, and boundary conditions. For example, the statistical
variability of the geometry of a product would try to capture product-to-product differences
due to manufacturing imperfections quantified by manufacturing tolerances. Probabilistic
characterization provides a probability of success or failure and not just a simple yes/no
evaluation. For instance, a probabilistic analysis could determine that one part in 1 million
would fail, or the probability of a product surviving its expected useful life.
Inserting a Six-Sigma system in the schematic will provide the robustness analysis. The
process here is very similar to the response surface creation. The main difference is in the
definition of the parameters: instead of giving minimum and maximum values defining the
parameter's ranges, the parameters will be described in terms of statistical curves and their
associated parameters. Once the parameters are defined, a new DOE will be computed, as
well as the corresponding response surfaces. Additional results in the form of probabilities
and statistical distributions of the output parameters are provided, along with the
sensitivity charts and the response surfaces.
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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Design Exploration
Determine the Number of Parameters
To get accurate response surfaces within a reasonable amount of time, the number of input
parameters should be limited to 10 to 15. If more parameters need to be investigated, the
correlation matrix will provide a way to identify some key parameters before creating the
response surface. The Parameters Correlation systems should be used prior to the Response
Surface systems, to reduce the number of parameters to the above mentioned limit. The
Parameters Correlation method will perform simulations based on a random sampling of
the design space, so as to identify the correlation between all parameters. The number of
simulations will depend upon the number of parameters, as well as the convergence criteria
for the means and standard deviations of the parameters. The user can provide a hard limit
for the number of points to be computed—it should be noted that the accuracy of the
correlation matrix might be affected if not enough points are computed.

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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Design Exploration
Increase the Response Surface Accuracy
Usually, a richer set of points for the DOE will provide a more accurate response surface.
However, it may not be easy to know before the response surface is created how many
additional points are required.
The Kriging response surface is a first solution to that problem. It will allow DesignXplorer
to determine the accuracy of the response surface as well as the points that would be
required to increase this accuracy. To use this feature, the Response Surface Type should
be set to Kriging. The refinement options will then be available to the user. The refinement
can be automated or user-defined. This last option should be used to control the number
of points to be computed.
The Sparse Grid response surface is another solution. It is an adaptive meta-model driven
by the accuracy that you request. It automatically refines the matrix of design points where
the gradient of the output parameters is higher in order to increase the accuracy of the
response surface. To use this feature, the Response Surface Type should be set to Sparse
Grid and the Design of Experiments Type should be set to Sparse Grid Initialization.
There is also a manual refinement option for all of the response surface types but the
Sparse Grid, which allows the user to enter specific points into the set of existing design
points used to calculate the response surface.
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1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
 Contents

1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
2. User Interface
3. Parameters
4. Design and Response Points
5. Workflow

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 User Interface
The Workbench user interface allows you to easily build your project on a main project
workspace called the Project tab. In the Project tab, you can take DesignXplorer systems
from the Toolbox and add them to the Project Schematic. DesignXplorer systems allow
you to perform the different types of parametric analyses on your project.

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2. User Interface
 User Interface Example
CFD-Structural analysis:
Input and output parameters
are defined in the Fluid Flow
and the Structural systems.

Parameters Set:
List of all parameters
Design Points table (What If)

DX system:
3-step workflow

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2. User Interface
 Toolbox
To perform a particular type of analysis, drag the template from the Toolbox onto
your Project Schematic below the Parameter Set bar.
When you are viewing a tab, the Toolbox will display items that can be added to
the Outline view based on the currently selected cell.

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2. User Interface
 Component Tabs
Once a DesignXplorer system is added to the Project Schematic, you can open component
tabs via the cells in the system. Each tab is a workspace in which you can set up analysis
options, run the analysis, and view results.

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2. User Interface
 Component Tabs
Outline: provides a hierarchy of the main objects that make up the component that you
are editing.
• The state icon on the root node, also referred to as the model node, tells you if the data
is up-to-date or needs to be updated. It also helps you to figure out of the impact of
your changes on the component and parameter properties.
• A quick help message is associated with the various states. It is particularly useful when
the state is Attention Required because it explains what is invalid in the current
configuration. To display the quick help message, click the Information button in
the Help column on the right of the model node
• On results objects nodes (response points, charts, Min-Max search, etc.), a state icon
showing if the object is up-to-date or out of date helps you to understand the current
status of the object. If you change a Design of Experiments setting, the state icon of the
corresponding chart will be updated, given the pending changes. For the update failed
state on a result object, you can try to update this object using the appropriate right
mouse button menu option when selecting its node.

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2. User Interface
 Component Tabs
Table: provides a tabular view of the data associated with that component. The header bar
contains a description of the table definition.
• In the Table view, input parameter values and output parameter values that are
obtained from a simulation are displayed in black text. Output parameters that are
based on a response surface are displayed in a different color, as specified in
the Options dialog.
Properties: provides access to the properties of the object selected in the Outline view. For
example, when a parameter is selected in the Outline, you can set its bounds. When
the Response Surface node is selected, you can set its meta-model type and the associated
options. When a chart is selected in the Outline, you can set its plotting properties, etc.
• The Properties view displays output values for the charts or response points selected in
the Outline view. Input parameter values and output parameter values that are
obtained from a simulation are displayed in black text, while output parameters that are
based on a response surface are displayed in a different color, as specified in
the Options dialog.
• Note: In the Properties view, the coloring convention for output parameter values is
not applied to the Calculated Minimum and Calculated Maximum values; these values
are always displayed in black text.
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2. User Interface
 Component Tabs
Chart or Results: displays the various charts available for the different DesignXplorer
system cells. Right-click on the chart to export the data chart in a CSV file. This section is
labeled Results only for the Optimization tab of a Goal Driven Optimization study.
• Note that you can insert and duplicate charts (or a response point with charts for
the Response Surface cell) even if the system is out of date. If the system is out of date,
the charts are displayed and updated in the Chart view when the system is updated. For
any DesignXplorer cell where a chart is inserted before updating the system, all types of
charts supported by the cell are inserted by default at the end of the update. If a cell
already contains a chart, then there is no new chart inserted by default (And for the
Response Surface, if there is no response point, a response point is inserted by default
with all charts).

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2. User Interface
 Contents

1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
2. User Interface
3. Parameters
4. Design and Response Points
5. Workflow

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 Parameters
The following types of parameters are used in DesignXplorer:
• Input Parameters
• Output Parameters
Note: Parameters can be defined in any Workbench application.

CAD Structural CFD Electromagnetics

DesignModeler Engineering data CFX Ansoft Products:

SpaceClaim Meshing Fluent Designer
Catia V5 Mechanical CFD Post HFSS
UG NX Mechanical APDL Polyflow Maxwell
SolidWorks ExplicitSTR Q3D Extractor
AQWA
Creo Parametric Vista TF, CCD… ICEM CFD Simplorer
Solid Edge Icepak
Autodesk Inventor nCode
… … And also for some custom usages:
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3. Parameters
 Input Parameters
Input parameters are those parameters that define the inputs to the analysis for the model
under investigation.
Input parameters have predefined ranges which can be changed.
+/- 10% of the current value of each input parameter is used to initialize the parameter
range by default.
If any parameter has a current value of 0.0, then the initial parameter range will be
computed as 0.0 → 10.0.
If you disable an input parameter, its initial value - which becomes editable - will be used
for the design exploration study.
If you change the initial value of a disabled input parameter during the study, all depending
results are invalidated. A disabled input parameter can have different initial value in each
DesignXplorer system.

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3. Parameters
 Input Parameters
Input parameters can be discrete or continuous, and each of these have specific forms.

Parameter Type Description Example

Number of holes, number of weld
Discrete Parameters Valid only at integer values
points, number of prism layers
Continuous Parameters Continuous non-interrupted range of values Thickness, force, temperature

• Discrete parameters physically represent different configurations or states of the model.

An example is the number of holes in a geometry. Discrete parameters allow you to
analyze different design variations in the same parametric study without having to
create multiple models for parallel parametric analysis.
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3. Parameters
 Input Parameters
• Continuous parameters physically vary in a continuous manner between a lower and an
upper bound defined by the user. Examples are CAD dimension or load magnitude.
Continuous parameters allow you to analyze a continuous value within a defined range,
with each parameter representing a direction in the design and treated as a continuous
function in the DOE and Response Surface.
• With continuous parameters, you can also apply a Manufacturable Values filter to the
parameter.
• Manufacturable Values represent real-world manufacturing or production constraints,
such as drill bit sizes, sheet metal thicknesses, and readily-available bolts or screws.
• By applying the Manufacturable Values filter to a continuous parameter, you ensure
that only those parameters that realistically represent manufacturing capabilities are
included in the postprocessing analysis.

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3. Parameters
 Output Parameters
• Output parameters are those parameters that result from the geometry or are the
response outputs from the analysis.

• Derived parameters are specific output parameters defined as an analytical combination

of output or input parameters. As the definition suggests, derived parameters are
calculated from other parameters by using equations that you provide. They are created
in the system and passed into ANSYS DesignXplorer as output parameters.

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3. Parameters
 Contents

1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
2. User Interface
3. Parameters
4. Design and Response Points
5. Workflow

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 Design and Response Points
Design point
• It is defined by a snapshot of parameter values where output parameter values were
calculated directly by a project update. Design points are created by design exploration;
for instance, when processing a Design of Experiments or a Correlation Matrix, or
refining a Response Surface.
• It is also possible to insert a design point at the project level from an optimization
candidate design, in order to perform a validation update. Note that the output
parameter values are not copied to the created design point since they were calculated
by design exploration and are, by definition, approximated. Actual output parameters
will be calculated from the design point input parameters when a project update is done.
• You can also edit design point update process settings, including the order in which
points are updated and the location in which the update will occur.

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4. Design and Response Points
 Design and Response Points
Response point
A response point is defined by a snapshot of parameter values where output parameter
values were calculated in ANSYS DesignXplorer from a response surface. As such, the
parameter values are approximate and calculated from response surfaces, and the most
promising designs should be verified by a solve in the system using the same parameter
values.

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4. Design and Response Points
 Contents

1. Introduction to DesignXplorer
2. User Interface
3. Parameters
4. Design and Response Points
5. Workflow

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 Workflow
To run a parametric analysis in ANSYS DesignXplorer, the next steps are to be followed:
• Model creation (either in DesignModeler or other CAD software) and load it into one of
the analysis systems available in Workbench.
• Parameters definition.
• DesignXplorer added to the project.
• Set the analysis options and parameter limits.
• Update the analysis.
• View the results of the design exploration analysis.
• Generate a project report to display the results of your analysis.

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5. Workflow
 Adding Design Exploration
You can use as many of the ANSYS DesignXplorer features as you like and rerun them with
different parameters and limits as many times as you need to refine your design. The
following steps outline the process for putting design exploration elements into
your Project Schematic:
1. Create parts and assemblies in either the DesignModeler solid modeler or any of the
supported CAD systems. Features in the geometry that will be important to the analysis
should be exposed as parameters. Such parameters can be passed to ANSYS
DesignXplorer.
2. Drag an analysis system into the Project Schematic, connecting it to the DesignModeler
or CAD file.
3. Click on the Parameter Set bar
4. In the Outline view, click on the various input parameters that you need to modify. Set
the limits of the selected parameter in the Properties view.
5. Drag the design exploration template that you would like to use into the Project
Schematic below the Parameter Set bar.

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5. Workflow
 Duplicating Existing DesignXplorer Systems

Any DesignXplorer systems that you have created on your Project Schematic can be
duplicated. The manner in which they are duplicated them dictates the data that is shared
between the duplicated systems.
• For any DesignXplorer system, right-click on the B1 cell of the system and
select Duplicate. A new system of that type will be added to the schematic under
the Parameter Set bar. No data is shared with the original system.
• For a DesignXplorer system that has a DOE cell, click on the DOE cell and
select Duplicate. A new system of that type will be added to the schematic under
the Parameter Set bar. No data is shared with the original system.
• For a DesignXplorer system that has a Response Surface cell, click on the Response
Surface cell and select Duplicate. A new system of that type will be added to the
schematic under the Parameter Set bar. The DOE data will be shared from the original
system.
• For a GDO or SSA DesignXplorer system, if you click on those cells and select Duplicate, a
new system of that type will be added to the schematic under the Parameter Set bar.
The DOE and Response Surface data will be shared from the original system.

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5. Workflow
 Running Design Exploration Analysis
After you have placed all of the design exploration templates on your schematic you should
set up the individual DesignXplorer systems and then run the analysis for each cell.
1. Specify design point update options in the Parameter Set Properties view.
2. For each cell in the design exploration system, right-click and select Edit to open the tab
for that cell. On the tab, set up any analysis options that are needed.
3. Run the analysis by one of the following methods:
• In the tab, right-click the cell and select Update from the context menu.
• From the Project Schematic, right-click a system cell and select Update to update the
cell. To update the entire project, you can either click the Update Project toolbar
button or right-click in the schematic and select Update Project.
4. Make sure that you set up and solve each cell in a DesignXplorer system to complete the
analysis for that system.
5. View the results of each analysis from the tabs of the various cells in the DesignXplorer
systems (charts, tables, statistics, etc.).

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5. Workflow
 Monitoring Design Exploration Analysis
After starting a design exploration analysis Update, there are two different views available
to help you monitor your analysis.
Progress View
There is a Progress view that you can open from the View menu or from Show
Progress button at the lower right corner of the window. During execution, a progress
execution status bar appears in the Progress cell. The name of the task that is executing
appears in the Status cell and information about the execution appears in the Details cell.
This view continuously reports the status of the execution, until it is complete. You can stop
an execution by clicking the Stop button to the right of the progress bar and you can restart
it at a later time by using any of the Update methods that you would use to start a new
Update for the cell or tab.

Messages View
If solution errors exist and the Messages view is not open, the Show Messages button in
the lower right of the window will flash orange and indicate the number of messages. Click
this button to examine solution error information. You can also open the Messages view
from the View menu in the toolbar.
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5. Workflow
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