A multi-objective optimization based on machine learning for dimension precision of wax pattern in turbine blade manufacturing

Abstract

Wax pattern fabrication in the investment casting of hollow turbine blades directly determines the dimension accuracy of subsequent casting, and therefore significantly affects the quality of final product. In this work, we develop a machine learning-based multi-objective optimization framework for improving dimension accuracy of wax pattern by optimizing its process parameters. We consider two optimization objectives on the dimension of wax pattern, i.e., the surface warpage and core offset. An active learning of Bayesian optimization is employed in data sampling to determine process parameters, and a validated numerical model of injection molding is used to compute objective results of dimension under varied process parameters. The collected dataset is then leveraged to train different machine learning models, and it turns out that the Gaussian process regression model performs best in prediction accuracy, which is then used as the surrogate model in the optimization framework. A genetic algorithm is employed to produce a non-dominated Pareto front using the surrogate model in searching, followed by an entropy weight method to select the most optimal solution from the Pareto front. The optimized set of process parameters is then compared to empirical parameters obtained from previous trial-and-error experiments, and it turns out that the maximum and average warpage results of the optimized solution decrease 26.0% and 20.2%, and the maximum and average errors of wall thickness compared to standard part decrease from 0.22 mm and 0.051 7 mm using empirical parameters to 0.10 mm and 0.035 6 mm using optimized parameters, respectively. This framework is demonstrated capable of addressing the challenge of dimension control arising in the wax pattern production, and it can be reliably deployed in varied types of turbine blades to significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of turbine blades.