Second-Order Response Surface Modeling Within a Blocked Split-Plot Structure

• Activity Number: 179
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 4, 2014 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistics in Defense and National Security
• Author(s): Luis Cortes*+ and James R. Simpson and William Duff
• Companies: Applied Research Solutions and JKanalytics and Colorado State University
• Keywords: Experimental Design ; Split-plot ; Second Order Model ; Blocking ; Randomization Restriction

Abstract

Randomization is one of the fundamental principles of experimental design. Restriction in randomization arise from situations in which it is impractical to randomly change factor level settings or from situations in which some experimental resources are limited, as it is often the case in Department of Defense (DoD) Test & Evaluation (T&E). Restriction in randomization due to factor level settings that are hard, costly, or time consuming to change result in a split-plot structure. Restriction in randomization due to the availability of resources such as time, personnel, or material, can lead to blocking. A combination of those constraints leads to a blocked split-plot experiment. Because the goal of many experiments is to find an optimal process condition or an optimal product characteristic, it is often necessary to fit a second-order model to the experimental observations. The design and analysis of second-order blocked split-plot experiments is challenging. This paper explores the systematic construction, analysis, and evaluation of second-order response surface designs in the presence of blocking and split-plot structures.