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Reverse engineering of turbine blades based on design intent

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DOI: 10.1007/s00170-006-0406-9

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Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2007) 32: 1009–1020
DOI 10.1007/s00170-006-0406-9
ORIGINA L ARTI CLE
K. Mohaghegh . M. H. Sadeghi . A. Abdullah
Reverse engineering of turbine blades based on design intent
Received: 22 February 2005 / Accepted: 7 September 2005 / Published online: 23 May 2006
# Springer-Verlag London Limited 2006
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to describe a new
approach to process the data points measured from turbine
blade airfoils in order to make a valid shape via reverse
engineering method. Currently, preliminary B-rep models
can be created by fitting surfaces to point clouds using a 3D
laser scanner. In case of a turbine blade, due to high shape
complexity, the resulting model is often unsuitable in
practice. A small change in blade geometry can lead to a
large change in turbine performance. Therefore, control of
the blade shape is critical to the design process. Authors
believe that the only way to capture the valid shape of a
blade airfoil out of the many manufacturing deviations is to
incorporate design key-points during reverse engineering.
Implementation of the new method using segmentation and
constrained fitting algorithm (SCFA) on a heavy-duty
industrial gas turbine blade has been reported and
discussed.
Keywords Reverse engineering . Beautification . Airfoil
geometry . Solid modeling
K. Mohaghegh . M. H. Sadeghi (*)
Manufacturing Engineering Group, Mechanical Engineering
Department, Tarbiat Modarres University,
P.O. Box 14115-363 Tehran, Iran
e-mail: sadeghim@modares.ac.ir
Tel.: +98-21-88630481
Fax: +98-21-88630481
K. Mohaghegh
Turbine Blade Engineering and Manufacturing Co. (PARTO),
Fardis,
Karaj, Iran
A. Abdullah
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Amir-Kabir University,
Tehran, Iran
1 Introduction
Unlike conventional engineering, which begins with the
description of what a part will do and produces a geometric
model suitable for manufacturing it, reverse engineering
begins with the manufactured part and produces a geo-
metric model of it. A broader interpretation of the term
“reverse engineering” might perhaps involve deducing the
intent of the original designer to some degree [1]. If we say
that engineering converts a concept into an artifact, then
reverse engineering converts an artifact into a concept [2].
Reverse engineering is limited to the quality of the
measurement and complementary computer-aided model-
ing activities. Some of the major limitations are:
– Sensing errors: Errors arising during the data acquisi-
tion phase may be reduced by improving the precision
of the sensing techniques. Yet measurement will
always be subjected to a certain tolerance, as a perfect
sensor cannot exist.
– Approximation errors: Depending on the methods used
for the reconstruction, certain assumptions about the
data set are made and this influences the way the data is
approximated. For instance, the error metric used to fit
a surface to a point set determines how well the surface
is approximated. Different error metrics favor different
surface types and surface parameters to approximate
the point sets. We refer to these types of errors as
approximation errors.
– Numerical error: Noise is introduced to the process by
numerical methods used during reconstruction. This
can be reduced by using numerically more stable
methods, but it cannot be avoided as long as we are
computing with floating point numbers.
– Wear of the object: The external surface of mechanical
objects is always subjected to wear. So even when we
avoid measurement errors we have limited access to
correct geometry. In the case of turbine blades, a final
hand-polishing is usually performed on the airfoil
surface, which results in uneven geometric errors
remaining on the part.
1010
– Particular manufacturing method: Turbine blades are
usually made by investment casting. Analysis of the
process shows that in order to avoid deflections of
airfoil in the final state, sometimes airfoil is cast larger
and then dimensions are fine-tuned by hand blending.
So manufacturing errors of each part differs to other
ones. As another example, when using a mould to
create a part, the side faces are usually slightly rotated
in order to ensure that the part can easily be removed
from the mould.
The most difficult to understand part of an axial gas
turbine blade is the airfoil. The airfoil of a blade is a 3D
freeform shape, which plays the main role in the
performance of the whole turbine. A small change in the
airfoil geometry can lead to a large change in turbine
performance. Therefore, getting used to analyzing every
minor detail of the blade shape is part of the daily life of
specialists engaged in this field. To get a better view of the
problem, consider the following two points:
– A typical reverse engineering process always starts
with measurement activities on a sample part. But in
this case (turbine blade), selection of a valid part to
start with is very difficult. There is no sure way to
recognize manufacturing errors imposed in the part
during the various production processes that have
previously been made on the part. Turbine blades are
usually made by investment casting. Analyzing the
process shows that in order to avoid deflections of
airfoil in the final state, the airfoil is cast in a larger size
and then the dimensions are fine-tuned by hand
blending, so manufacturing errors of one part differ
relative to another.
– Turbine blades are quite expensive parts. No one
throws them away until all the possible refurbishment
activities have been examined. Even if refurbishment
companies fail to repair the blades, most of the
companies would rather—instead of throwing them
away—store these parts and wait for the probable
future enhancements of refurbishment technologies. In
fact, it is very difficult to guarantee whether the reverse
engineering sample (the turbine blade), which is going
to be used as the first step of the process, is actually
new. It is clear that a refurbished part is a part with
some “frozen-in” errors.
Having faced many problems during the previous
reverse engineering projects of turbine blades, authors of
this paper decided to proceed a different way. Instead of
sticking to the reverse engineering sample as the only
source to get information, we decided to think about how
this part should really look. This way of thinking brought
us to the idea of incorporating design aspects of the turbine
blades into the reverse engineering process. In this paper, a
combined reverse engineering process has been presented,
which at the same time gets information from two different
sources; i.e., measuring the part (conventional way) and
reviewing design aspects. In this way, instead of copying
every detail of the part, we will try to capture the designer’s
intent to some extent. Then our aim would be to filtrate
manufacturing errors and exclude them from the geometry
in order to tend toward the nominal geometry. It is
important to note that we are performing reverse engineer-
ing and not design. The only way to end up with the 100%
exact nominal values of a part is by directly using the
original drawing of the particular blade! In this paper, it is
shown that by using some general rules during reverse
engineering facilitates the process toward better results,
which is much more valid.
2 Related work
One of the published works on reverse engineering of
turbine blades is the research of Chen et al. [3]. It is mainly
about new techniques of digitizing and modeling of free-
form surfaces and uses a turbine airfoil as a case study to
prove its viability. The paper presents a method to perform
digitizing and modeling activities, but there is no reference
to design aspects or shape constraints and regularities of
turbine blades.
Tai and Huang [4] mentioned the importance of design
intent during reverse engineering. They proposed that the
best way to get high-quality curve fitting of a B-spline on
measured data is to use data points that have been
segmented manually by the engineer according to the
design intent. Their work mainly concentrates on how to
manipulate the measured points to prepare them for a
successful B-spline fitting and deals with algorithms for
noise reduction and the regeneration of missing points in
order to get a smoother B-spline. It contains some general
useful hints, but does not show actually how to deal with
design aspects of a part.
Dealing in depth with the part geometry, the engineer
gradually finds design features which, step-by-step,
leads him/her toward the intended design of the part. In
this regard, feature recognition might be a useful tool.
Thompson et al. described a prototype of a reverse engi-
neering system that uses geometric primitives [5]. The
main advantage of this feature-based approach is the
capability of producing highly accurate models, even when
the 3D point data has substantial errors. This is due to the
fact that some geometric primitives are known to the
system. So, after identifying a known feature, there is no
need to go for higher accuracies. The primitives known to
this type of software is limited to quadric features such as
flat surfaces, cylinders, etc. So these systems are by no
means capable of recognizing free-form surfaces like
airfoils.
Another related subject to feature recognition is the
analysis of the geometric regularities in reverse engineer-
ing. The long-term goal is to build a system that will
analyze a preliminary reverse engineered model for the
approximate presence of geometric constraints, features,
and regularities and will enforce some set of them on the
model to produce an improved model [6]. The work is
about relationships between features and not feature
detection itself. The features that have been considered
 1011

are simple ones like planes, spheres, cylinders, cones, etc.,

and not free-form surfaces.
On the other hand, recognition of free-form surfaces in
reverse engineering usually does not deal with constraints
and regularities. There are plenty of works about recon-
struction of free-form surfaces with most advanced
techniques [7], but they just address one side of the
problem, which is measurement data and try to include
noise filtration, curvature analysis, etc., on this basis.
The use of constraints in object modeling is an important
topic in CAD literature. Werghi [8] proposed an approach
for object reconstruction by incorporating geometric Fig. 1 Section profile of a turbine blade airfoil
constraints. He minimizes an objective function that
defines a relationship between the measured data points want to add a tool-box to the conventional reverse
and the shape parameters. It is a minimization of least engineering to recognize design key-points. In this
squares residuals subjected to geometric constraints regard, the more powerful the toolbox, the results will
equations. His approach is again limited to quadrics and be nearer to the design. Fig. 1 shows some of the
he notes some problems like complex representation of the typical geometric design features of an airfoil cascade.
objective function and need for accurate initial estimations. – Geometric regularities: Certain intended regularities,
To overcome some of these limitations, Varady [9] like symmetries, orthogonal or parallel planes and
proposed another approach, which uses faithful representa- aligned cylinder axes, may only be approximately
tions. This type of representation makes it possible to present in the reverse engineered model. However, in
separate two groups of measurement data and shape order for such models to have the greatest usefulness to
parameters and converts the problem to a much easier redesign applications, these intended regularities
form, which can be solved within a shorter time. should be present as they are an important part of
According to Fisher [10], the objects that human engineering designs.
constructs are not arbitrary; the shapes of most normal
objects follow standard conventions arising from tradition, The selected design key-point for the case study
utility or engineering design, so this is a knowledge-based presented in this paper is the use of seven arcs approach
approach. He argues that exploiting this extra knowledge to define an airfoil section. There are at least two usual
allows improved reverse engineering. His approach is types of airfoils in axial flow turbine blades:
again minimizing a statement that consists of two terms:
– Seven arcs: To define a complete airfoil section with
the first term is a least square fitting term that ensures that
seven arcs, all tangent to each other and make a smooth
the model surfaces lie close to the image data; the second
path for gas flow.
term encodes the penalties for constraint violations.
– NACA: To use special formulae to define a thickness
profile on the camber line of an airfoil, which could be
found in textbooks.
3 Design aspects of turbine airfoils
This means that we have not freely suggested a way to
In this work, we are not going to judge whether or not a define the external surface of the blade airfoil, but this is
sample turbine blade has the acceptable shape in terms of originated from the design data, which led us by experi-
turbomachinery efficiency. We just intend to present a ence, to suggest that the blade under investigation looks
method to use general intrinsic geometric relations that very much like a seven arcs type. Using the automatic
have been used in the design of airfoils in such a way that algorithm explained in the next section, we ended up with
any doubtful finding during reverse engineering will be very good matching curves with high accuracies that
modified according to the degree of opposition to the approved selection of such a design key-point.
turbine blade design rules. In this regard, we differentiate
between airfoil-specific features and geometric regularities.
4 Application of the segmentation and constrained
– Airfoil specific features: Aerodynamic design deals
fitting algorithm(SCFA) on section profiles using seven
with boundary layers, shock losses, secondary flow
circular arcs
patterns, surface curvature distributions, blade angles
like wedge, inlet and exit angle, stagger and camber,
4.1 Experiments and system requirements
and a good blade design is a compromise of
aerodynamic, structural, thermodynamic, and econom-
This work describes the segmentation and constrained
ic considerations [11]. The effort toward discovery of
fitting algorithm (SCFA) implemented on a reverse-
design aspects of such a complex part is not
engineered sample which was a heavy-duty rotating turbine
straightforward, so one should always bear in mind
blade to get the drawing geometry (Fig. 2).
that by choosing this type of reverse engineering we
1012

Fig. 2 A sample heavy-duty turbine blade selected for the

implementation of SCFA

During this research work, we recognized many details

of the airfoil geometry that were previously unknown.
Digitizing was done using an ATOS laser scanner and then
the data for each section were extracted using TRITOP
software with IGES format. This file was imported into
UNIGRAPHICS-NX as the modeling software. Using
special part programs written in GRIP language, data was
transformed into coordinates in text format in order to be
used in MAPLE9.0. The SCFA was written in MAPLE9.0.
The results of constrained fitting are finally used to
reconstruct the model again in UNIGRAPHICS-NX. The
work resulted in a satisfactory shape coverage for the
section profiles of the mentioned blade.
Fig. 3 Airfoil nomenclature and position of seven arcs
of the airfoil section. The second phase after segmentation
is the constrained fitting phase, which finds the proper
geometric features (here circles) with the minimum
distance from the proper point segments and at the same
time with the satisfactory constraints between the group of
features. Here, the result of constrained fitting would be
specifying seven arcs tangent to each other and with
minimum total distance with respect to the input point
cloud.

4.2.1 Digitization strategy

4.2 Description of the algorithm
Digitization can be performed with a CMM machine or a
The principals of constrained fitting are thoroughly laser scanner. In order to set up the digitization in an efficient
discussed in [9]. It is obvious that the airfoil section is a way to cover all the geometric details of an airfoil, we
closed curve. There are several possible ways to estimate recommend using the following guideline for the selection of
such a profile. Among all possible solutions, we decided to
follow the designers’ method to define an airfoil, which
particularly uses seven arcs to define an airfoil in a certain
way. This means that in order to reverse-engineer 2D
section profiles of an airfoil, constrained fitting of section
profiles with seven circular arcs itself, is the nearest
estimation to the design data. This way, before performing
the reverse engineering activities, we involve a pre-
knowledge of the part and we are not free to just generally
choose a way to estimate the closed profile. Seven arcs of a
section profile (Fig. 3) consist of two arcs for the leading
edge (LE) and the trailing edge (TE), three arcs for the
suction side (SS) and two arcs for pressure side (PS). To
fulfill the requirements of an airfoil consisting of seven
arcs, a segmentation and constrained fitting algorithm
(SCFA) was written and implemented.
The target would be to find the best segmentation for an
airfoil section point cloud and, consequently, to find the
optimum tangent circles fitted to the point segments using
SCFA. Figure 4 shows the flowchart of the complete
calculation sequence.
A digitized section of airfoil is used here as the input.
The first phase of the work covers the activities regarding
segmentation of the section point cloud. Segmentation
generally refers to finding groups of points that belong to
the same geometric feature. Here, our intention is to find Fig. 4 Flow chart of segmentation and constrained fitting algorithm
the group of points that belong to each consisting circle (SCFA)

digitizing resolution in different locations of an airfoil: Select
resolution of 0.03L for SS and PS locations and 0.01L for LE
and TE locations (L is the airfoil chord). Results of
digitization are saved as a text file of x-y coordinates.
4.2.2 Input point cloud
SCFA starts with reading the text file containing x-y
coordinates of section points as input. The points are saved
in the section point array.
4.2.3 Automatic feature recognition of airfoil
from the point cloud
In this part of the SCFA, the program extracts the rough
position of airfoil features from the point cloud. These
features include LE, TE, SS and PS (Fig. 3). Two farthest
points in the section point cloud, which define the blade
chord (Fig. 1), are found (points a and b in Fig. 5). The
length of line AB is shown as dmax. The farthest point
within the point cloud from this line is then found (C).
Looking to the triangle (ABC) we have to differentiate
which sides are LE and TE. The LE side is the point which
is closer to C (point A) and TE is the point which is farther
from C (point B). After recognizing the LE and TE, we try
to find the PS. The mid point of line segment AB is found
(point D). Then the nearest point to D in the point cloud is
found (point E). This point is most probably on the PS of
the airfoil section.
Point cloud is then sorted starting from the point E,
which means that point E is numbered as #1, the nearest
point to E is numbered as #2 and so on.
4.2.4 Finding the location of LE and TE by marching
algorithm
a) FINDING THE BASE CIRCLES FOR LE and TE
Base circles are auxiliary objects that will be used later
in a constrained fitting algorithm (see 4.2.7). The
Fig. 6 LE/TE circles may not cover the edge properly if we do not
constrain them to be tangent to a small base circle fitted to the
endmost points of the airfoil section
Fig. 5 Two farthest points and their functions
1013
sequence to find the base circle is as follows: The
points #1 to #7 of the point cloud are first selected. A
circle is fitted to points #1, #4, and #7 of this group.
Point group shifts one point forward and a new circle is
fitted accordingly to points #2, #5, and #8. This will be
repeated (the next time a circle is fitted to points #3, #6,
and #9 and so on). This marching algorithm goes on
until it covers all the points within a single airfoil
section. Because of the shape aspect ratio of an airfoil,
LE and TE are always the two smallest circles among
the possible circle segments in an airfoil. So the circle
with minimum radius found after the one complete
coverage of the points is one of LE or TE circles. We
define the two found circles as LE and TE base circles.
This method ends with valid results only when an
initial digitalization strategy described (see 4.2.1) is
properly followed. To improve the quality of LE and
TE base circles, it is recommended to add the
neighborhood points within an allowable maximum
deviation to the base circle point segment. The
parameter allowable max. deviation specifies the
limit of digitizing errors. The first base circle is
found by fitting a circle to the achieved segment.
Previous steps are repeated to find the second base
circle with an additional condition to differentiate LE
from TE: the distance of the center of second base
circle from the center of first base circle must be larger
than dmax/2 (see Fig. 5) to find the base circle on the
opposite side of the airfoil. The circle that is closer to
the LE reference point (point a in Fig. 5) is the LE base
circle and the other one is the TE base circle. Later (see
4.2.7) we will force the LE and TE to be inside tangent
to these base circles. We add these base circles and
tangent constraints into the system to avoid an
incorrect fitting (Fig. 6). As it is shown in Fig. 6, it is
quite probable to incorrectly fit the LE circle with an
automatic least square algorithm. Although the LE
circle has the minimum error, it is not representing the
basic shape of LE according to the point cloud. Using
the concept of LE/TE base circles, this malfunction of
curve fitting will be prohibited.
1014

b) EXTENSION ALGORITHM TO FIND LE and TE

CIRCLES
The base circle point segment is used as an initial guess
to find the LE/TE circle through a loop. In this loop, we
extend the base circle point segment in forward and
backward directions. To decide whether to extend the
point segment forward or backward, we monitor four
control parameters as defined below:

1. Actual max. deviation of points from the fitted

circle if we add a new point in the forward direction.
2. Actual max. deviation of points from the fitted circle
if we add a new point in the backward direction.
3. Actual curve-fitting error of the circle if we add a
new point in the forward direction.
4. Actual curve-fitting error of the circle if we add a
new point in the backward direction.
In each iteration of the loop all the above values are
updated. If both forward and backward actual max.
deviations are inside the allowable max. deviation,
then we compare the actual curve-fitting errors. We add
new points in a direction which causes a smaller curve-
fitting error. If one of the actual max. deviations is
inside the allowable limit and the other is outside, then
we add the point in the direction that keeps the max.
deviation inside the allowable limit. If none of the
actual max. deviations are inside the allowable limit,
then no other point is added to the segment and the
loop stops.
The LE/TE circle will be found as described above.
This loop is executed two times to find both LE and TE
circles. For example, suppose that the initial TE base
circle point array starts from point #27 and ends at
point #35. After execution of the loop, the final TE
point array starts from point #22 and ends at point #41.
So in this example, the circle point array has been
extended from both directions of the section points
(Fig. 7).
Fig. 7 The inner circles are base circles which LE/TE circles must
be inside tangent to them. Using this constraint, we ensure that LE/
TE circles will cover all the points on the endmost edges of the
airfoil
marks the used points and marching is repeated on the left
points of the SS/PS. The search stops when no more group
of seven adjacent unused points is found on SS/PS.
If there were few points left between the segments,
which belong to none of them, they are distributed into the
neighboring segments. Finally, the start points of the
segments are saved and the program starts searching on
the second side. The LE and TE segments do not change
at this stage.
Note Segments used in SCFA are supposed to have at least
seven points because our marching algorithm is based on
seven-point groups. Hence, the digitization resolution (see
4.2.1) must be set fine enough to put at least seven points
on probable small segments.

4.2.5 Preliminary segmentation of SS and PS

The point segments within the airfoil are separated from

each other by their start points (Fig. 8). We assume that TE
is the first segment and, consequently, the first point of the
TE segment is considered as the first start point. Then
second start point is the first point after the trailing edge on
the SS or PS, depending on the direction of sorting the
points. A marching algorithm (similar to the algorithm
mentioned in 4.2.4a) is applied to fit the proper circles to
SS/PS segments. A circle is fitted to points #1, #4, and #7
of the first side, etc. All points of the first side are covered
in this way. Each time the number of points having an
allowable deviation from this circle is counted. The circle
with the maximum number of points inside the allowable
limit indicates an acceptable new segment. The largest Fig. 8 An example of point segments and their start points on the
possible circle in each side is found first. The program airfoil section
 1015

4.2.6 Establishing a trial segmentation
The best first guess to position the circles is the least square
circle fitting to the segments found in the previous step.
The mathematical meaning of this statement is that circle
parameter matrices (see Appendix) are initialized by the
parameter values of least square fitted circles to the point
segments resulted in preliminary segmentation (4.2.5).
Following this first guess, in order to involve the geometric
relationships between the circles within an airfoil section,
we use the constrained fitting method to solve a system of
equations to satisfy the tangency constraints between them
simultaneously. Here we need to accomplish a trial-and-
error cycle to find the best segmentation that minimizes the
constrained fitting error. The trial and error in segmentation
of “n” (usually seven) arcs, which have “n” movable start
points to satisfy constrained fitting of circles after each trial
segmentation causes an enormous number of cases that is
computationally quite complex to solve. In order to
simplify the problem, we have divided the big problem
into a few simpler ones. We decided to solve the problem
for three adjacent segments each time with two variable
start points between them. Two movable start points
change their place regularly each time to establish a new
trial segmentation and a constrained fitting problem is
solved for this new segmentation correspondingly.
– Unusual termination: If the error curve didn’t converge
after three complete revolutions around the section, the
program stops. This is a halt condition that will stop the
program if the first condition fails.
4.2.8 Representation and saving the results
Finally, the SCFA will display the best case that has the
minimum constrained fitting error. Each point segment and
its fitted arc are shown in Fig. 9. The point with maximum
deviation on each circle is highlighted by a small black
square. The program asks weather the user wants to save
the arcs and segmented points. Then the best results, which
include coordinates of centers and radii of circles together
with the final segmentations, are saved as a text file.
4.2.9 Importing the circles into UNIGRAPHICS
and trimming
Coordinates of centers and radii of circles together with the
final segmentations will be exported to UNIGRAPHICS
via a written GRIP program and can be represented
accordingly. The GRIP program also trims the circles.

5 Analysis of results
4.2.7 Constrained fitting of the circles
5.1 Calculation time
In each trial, proper constraints between the circles are
inserted into the system of equations. For example, The described algorithm was run on a PC: Pentium 4 with
consider arcs #2, #3, and #4 as a trial set of three adjacent 3GHz speed and 2Gbytes RAM. It took 7 min. to run SCFA
arcs in Fig. 8. Arc #3 must be inside tangent to arc #2 and in MAPLE9.0 for a sample section from a turbine airfoil
#4. Also, arc #2 must be inside tangent to arc #1, which is a (see 4.1) with 100-mm cord length having 148 digitized
fixed arc in this trial. Similarly, arc #4 must be inside
tangent to arc #5, which is also fixed. An additional
constraint is imposed if LE/TE lies in the same set of arcs:
LE/TE circle must be inside tangent to its respective LE/TE
base circle. As explained in 4.2.4, the base circle was
calculated by a least square fitting method and so it is fixed
there after. Actually in this algorithm we change the
position of seven floating arcs according to constrained
fitting rules with respect to the two fixed base circles.
(Further detailed calculation of constrained fitting algo-
rithm is explained in the Appendix.)
When the optimum segmentation—which gives the
minimum constrained fitting error value—for the arc set is
found, the group of three adjacent arcs will step forward by
one arc and establishing a trial segmentation and
constrained fitting is repeated for the next three arc
group. This sequence (4.2.6 and the current step) is
repeated until one of the end conditions stated below
happens:
– Usual termination: If none of the start points changed
their place after a complete revolution around the
section, then the loop stops.
Fig. 9 Final constrained fitted circles and point segments
1016
Fig. 10 Total constrained fitting error of seven circles in three
complete revolutions
points (high-density distribution on LE and TE and
uniform distribution along PS and SS according to
formulation presented in 4.2.1).
5.2 Error analysis
Figures 10, 11, 12 show the graphs of some important
control values during execution of the program on a sample
section point cloud. Figure 10 shows the total constrained
fitting error of seven circles of a section in three complete
loops around the section (21 trials). The convergence of the
error value to 1.5 after one complete loop around the
section (seven trials) is clearly observed.
Figure 11 represents the summation of constraint values
in each trial. As described in the Appendix, the target is to
make the constraint values equal to zero. Figure 11 shows
that the constraint summation value is in a very good
condition in trials 12, 13, 19, and 20. It also shows that the
second complete loop (trials 8–14) is much better than the
first loop (trials 1–7). The repetitive pattern of the graph
after completion of the second loop depicts that the third
complete loop around the airfoil (trials 15–21) is not going
Fig. 11 Summation of constraint values in each trial
Fig. 12 Final position of start points between three arcs in each
trial set
to give better results, so the unusual termination (see 4.2.7)
halts the process.
Figure 12 shows the position of two start points between
the three temporary arcs (Fig. 8) of each trial. The pattern
shows that the position of all start points is stabilized within
the first loop and further trials does not improve the results.
5.3 Convergence
If after a complete loop around the airfoil section none of
the points between segments change their position (which
shows there is no further need to refine the results), then the
SCFA program usually ends. However, in some cases,
there are more than one point, which results in the best
segmentation and consequently minimum error condition
after constraint fitting. So after a while SCFA does not end
properly and fluctuates between two or probably more
valid results. This case is usually recognized when the
results are changing but not converging. In such cases, to
avoid dummy repetition of the program, a termination
condition has been added.
Fig. 13 Digitized points of one of the sections of the sample blade
before applying the SCFA

Fig. 14 The positive metal area and the results of SCFA
5.4 Positive metal on PS
Figure 13 shows a poor blending in one of the sections of
the sample turbine blade. This type of protrusion is usually
referred to as positive metal.
The results of SCFA showed (Fig. 14) that the circles
were not influenced by the bump because it happened in
the low-resolution zone (see 4.2.1) and according to 4.2.5 if
the number of points in feature is less than seven, then it
will not have a major effect on the final circle fitting.
5.5 Curvature analysis
Profile waviness is one of the main causes for gas turbine
deficiency. Turbine designers always set limitations for the
profile waviness to avoid improper flow of gas over the
airfoil surface. To evaluate the occurrence of waviness, a
comparative analysis of the actual waviness on the reverse-
engineered sample and the geometry, which results from
the SCFA that has been performed. Four sections from the
blade sample shown in Fig. 15 are selected to investigate
Fig. 15 Four sections taken to compare the geometry of reverse-engineered sample with respect to output of SCFA
1017
the state of SCFA output with respect to initial digitized
points on the airfoil surface.
Figures 16, 17, 18, 19 illustrate the distance of the initial
digitized points with respect to the final SCFA arcs. The
horizontal axis in these graphs is the circumference of the
closed SCFA circles in each section. As mentioned before,
the SCFA profile consists of seven circles that are tangent
to each other. Figure 16 depicts that the location of the
SCFA circles is just in the middle of digitized points. The
initial digitized points deviate from the SCFA circles
showing an amplitude in the order of ±0.4 mm. On the
other hand, the SCFA circles are only 0.02 mm away from
the average level of the digitized points. Fluctuation of 18
times around the SCFA circles shows that the reverse
engineering sample is not smooth at all, and it is not a good
geometry to follow for reverse engineering aspects and
smoothening of the 3D model is necessary.
The second section (Fig. 17) shows SCFA better
matching the average value (0.01 mm).
The third section (Fig. 18) is relatively more wavy but
evenly distributed on the SCFA profile.
The section close to the tip (Fig. 19) again has a very
fluctuating manner with relatively high bumps and cavities
in short pitches but still the SCFA circles are showing a
very good mean value with respect to the average level of
the waves, which is only 0.009 mm. This shows the
effectiveness of the SCFA algorithm on finding the right
way to select the segments and fit the circles accordingly
and it is obvious how effective the waviness of the profile
has been filtered.
Another point that is worth mentioning is that we have
not changed the geometry of the airfoil totally, but only a
fine modification was made, which is more likely regarded
that a beautification technique has been carried out.
1018
Fig. 16 Deviation analysis between digitized points and SCFA results of the lowest section (near the blade platform)
6 Conclusions
Turbine blades are very expensive parts. No one throws
them away until they have examined all the possible
refurbishment activities possible. In fact, it is very difficult
to guarantee whether the reverse engineering sample (the
turbine blade), which is going to be used as the first step of
data extraction, is actually new. It is clear that a refurbished
part is a part with some “frozen-in” errors.
The method shown in this paper can be regarded as a
general method of reverse engineering and is by no means
limited to a special type of application, e.g., turbine blade.
It is based on using the design intent to some degree while
performing reverse engineering activities. Authors are
trying to change the superficial approach of reverse
engineering, which relies only on the digitization results
and trying to measure more and more accurately. The aim is
to substitute some knowledge about the construction
geometry behind a part. It does not necessarily mean that
the engineer should be master of the design data, but to
Fig. 17 Deviation analysis between digitized points and SCFA results of the second section (above blade platform)
note that in some cases even a small attention on the nature
of the surface being examined will strongly improve the
results. This type of reverse engineering stresses more on
what the part shall look like than what the part actually is.
Using this new philosophy, the relatively experienced
engineer puts the part on a CMM machine (or any other
means of digitizing unit) only after having reviewed the
intention behind each detail of the part. If the result of
measurements happens to be completely different from
design—only after gathering the reasoning behind it—the
feature could be modified in the model.
The beautification project reported in this paper has been
implemented on some samples of heavy-duty industrial gas
turbine blades. Section profiles in this work are estimated
with circular arcs. The whole section geometry is managed
by constrained fitting. Analysis of the results shows that
after implementation of the SCFA algorithm, the waviness
of the profile was successfully filtered. The technique is
expected to have an impact on reverse engineering
applications and 3D modeling of free-form surfaces.
 1019

Fig. 18 Deviation analysis between digitized points and SCFA results of the third section (above blade platform)

Acknowledgement The authors would like to thank R.Bootorabi Using such a form of equation to represent a circle the
for his help in computer programming. tangency constraint equations are:

ða1 b0
b1 a0 Þ2 þ ðb0 a2
a0 b2 Þ2
ða0  b0 Þ ¼ 0 (3)

1 Appendix:
Appendix: Constrained
Contrained fitting
fitting calculation
calculation [9] [9]

For computational efficiency, a special equation to repre-
sent a circle has been chosen:

sign in the last term is used when the circles are outside
a0 x2 þ y2 þ a1 x þ a2 y þ a3 ¼ 0 (1)
Where a0, a1, a2 and a3 are the circle parameters. In
contradiction to usual forms of representation of circles that
have only three parameters, in this type of representation
there are four parameters. So a normalization condition to
ensure that the shape will be a circle has to be imposed. The
normalization condition is of the form:
a0, a1 and a2 are the parameters of the first circle and b0,
b1 and b2 are the parameters of the second circle. A plus
tangent and minus sign is used when they are inside
tangent. An example of constraints imposed to a group of
three adjacent arcs with indexed parameters of a, b and c,
respectively, for the three circles can be shown as:
a21 þ a22
4a0 a3
1 ¼ 0 (4)
b21 þ b22
4b0 b3
1 ¼ 0 (5)

a21 þ a22
4a0 a3 ¼ 0 (2)

Fig. 19 Deviation analysis between digitized points and SCFA results of the highest section (near the blade tip)
1020
c21 þ c22
4c0 c3
1 ¼ 0 (6)
ðR1 a0
R2 a1 Þ2 þ ðR3 a0
R4 a2 Þ2
ðR5
a0 Þ2 ¼ 0
(7)
ða1 b0
b1 a0 Þ2 þ ðb0 a2
a0 b2 Þ2
ða0
b0 Þ2 ¼ 0 (8)
ðb1 c0
c1 b0 Þ2 þ ðc0 b2
b0 c2 Þ2
ðb0
c0 Þ2 ¼ 0 (9)
ðS1 c1
S2 c0 Þ2 þ ðS3 c2
S4 c0 Þ2
ðc0
S5 Þ2 ¼ 0 (10)
The first three constraints are normalization constraints,
which are necessary for this type of representation of a
circle. The fourth and seventh constraints are tangency
constraints to the fixed arcs. In each trial on a three-arc set,
the arc before the first arc of the group and the arc after the
third arc are regarded as fixed. The parameters of these
fixed arcs including R1–5 and S1–5 are known. Fifth and
sixth constraints force the three arcs of the group to be
inside tangent next to each other. All of the circle
parameters are arranged sequentially in a matrix named
x. Each constraint equation makes one row of another
matrix c(x).
We define an error function f(x) which depends on the
distance of points from the circles. Our problem is to find
the circle parameters that minimize f(x) and also make
c(x)=0. These two problems are solved simultaneously by a
modified Newton iteration. We use Taylor series expan-
sions with a linear approximation for c(x), and a quadratic
approximation for f(x):
cðx0 þ d Þ ¼ cðx0 Þ þ ð@=@xcðx@ ÞÞd (11)
f ðx0 þ d Þ
¼ f ðx0 Þ þ ð@=@xf ðx0 ÞÞd


þ 1=2d T @2 @x@yf ðx0 Þ d (12)
Vector d is the vector of differential step values: [d1,
d2,...,dn] .
The above equations are solved using an iterative
method to find d . After each iteration, d is added to the
current parameter matrix “x” and updates the parameter
values of three circles. Using matrix notations the above
equations will have the following form:
C:D ¼ 0 (13)
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DT.A.D to be minimized. Where D ¼ ½d1 ; d2 ; . . . ; dn ; 1T
and C is a concatenated matrix: C ¼ ½c0 ðx0 Þjcðx0 Þ:
A is a matrix of the following form:
(14)
To compute d1,...,dn, we first reduce D to lower-
dimensional vector D* of independent d values. We use
each constraint equation to express one of d values in terms
of the others. Then the matrix M is computed in the way
that: D=M.D* , C.M=0
Substituting D in the above equations we have an
unconstrained minimization problem. Now we have to
minimize D*T.A*.D* where A*=MT.A.M.
The iterative procedure that minimizes our quadratic
error function f is a computation sequence as: (D*T.A*.
D*)´=0 followed by a sequence of computation for D*, D,
d , x, then x is updated: x=x + d, and finally, the parameters
C, M, and A* are computed. The iteration continues until
the constrained fitting error value f is converged and the
constraint equations are satisfied with enough precision.
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