Optimal allocation of design margins in additive remanufacturing

Often, coping with changing requirements results in substantial overdesign, because of the ways in which design margins are allocated at the beginning of the design process. In this paper, we present a design optimization method for minimizing overdesign using additive manufacturing. We use recently defined constituents of design margins (buffer and excess) as metrics in a design optimization problem to minimize overdesign. The method can be used to obtain optimal design decisions for changing requirements. We demonstrate our method by means of a turbine rear structure design problem where changes in the temperature loads are met by depositing different types of stiffeners on the outer casing. The optimal decisions obtained by optimization minimize overdesign but ensure that requirements are met throughout the product's lifecycle.