Adding Center Points

Designs with factors that are set at two levels implicitly assume that the effect of the factors on
the dependent variable of interest (e.g., fabric Strength) is linear. It is impossible to test whether
or not there is a non-linear (e.g., quadratic) component in the relationship between a factor A and
a dependent variable, if A is only evaluated at two points (.i.e., at the low and high settings).
If you suspects that the relationship between the factors in the design and the dependent variable
is rather curve-linear, then you should include one or more runs where all (continuous) factors are
set at their midpoint. Such runs are called center-point runs (or center points), since they are, in a
sense, in the center of the design (see graph).

Center point, or 'Control' RunsCenterpoint runs provide a check for both process stability
and possible curvatureAs mentioned earlier in this section, we add centerpoint runs
interspersed among the experimental setting runs for two purposes:
1. To provide a measure of process stability and inherent variability
2. To check for curvature.
Centerpoint runs are not randomizedCenterpoint runs should begin and end the experiment,
and should be dispersed as evenly as possible throughout the design matrix. The centerpoint
runs are not randomized! There would be no reason to randomize them as they are there as
guardians against process instability and the best way to find instability is to sample the
process on a regular basis.Rough rule of thumb is to add 3 to 5 center point runs to your
designWith this in mind, we have to decide on how many centerpoint runs to do. This is a
tradeoff between the resources we have, the need for enough runs to see if there is process
instability, and the desire to get the experiment over with as quickly as possible. As a rough
guide, you should generally add approximately 3 to 5 centerpoint runs to a full or fractional
factorial design.Table of randomized, replicated 23 full factorial design with centerpointsIn
the following Table we have added three centerpoint runs to the otherwise randomized design
matrix, making a total of nineteen runs.
TABLE 3.32: Randomized, Replicated 23 Full Factorial Design Matrix with Centerpoint
Control Runs Added
Random Order
Standard Order
SPEED
FEED
DEPTH
1
not applicable
not applicable
0
0
0
2
1
5
-1
-1
1
3
2
15
-1
1
1
4
3
9
-1
-1
-1
5
4
7
-1
1
1
6
5
3
-1
1
-1
7
6
12
1
1
-1
8
7
6
1
-1
1
9
8
4
1
1
-1
10
not applicable
not applicable
0
0
0
11
9
2
1
-1
-1
12
10
13
-1
-1
1
13
11
8
1
1
1
14
12
16
1
1
1

15
13
1
-1
-1
-1
16
14
14
1
-1
1
17
15
11
-1
1
-1
18
16
10
1
-1
-1
19
not applicable
not applicable
0
0
0
Preparing a worksheet for operator of experimentTo prepare a worksheet for an operator to
use when running the experiment, delete the columns 'RandOrd' and 'Standard Order.' Add an
additional column for the output (Yield) on the right, and change all '-1', '0', and '1' to original
factor levels as follows.Operator worksheet
TABLE 3.33: DOE Worksheet Ready to Run
Sequence
Number
Speed
Feed
Depth
Yield
1
20
0.003
0.015
2
16
0.001
0.02
3
16
0.005
0.02
4
16
0.001
0.01
5
16
0.005
0.02
6
16
0.005
0.01
7
24
0.005
0.01
8
24
0.001
0.02
9
24
0.005
0.01
10
20
0.003
0.015
11
24
0.001
0.01
12
16
0.001
0.02
13
24
0.005
0.02
14
24
0.005
0.02
15
16
0.001
0.01
16
24
0.001
0.02
17
16
0.005
0.01
18
24
0.001
0.01
19
20
0.003
0.015
Note that the control (centerpoint) runs appear at rows 1, 10, and 19.
This worksheet can be given to the person who is going to do the runs/measurements and
asked to proceed through it from first row to last in that order, filling in the Yield values as
they are obtained.
Pseudo Center pointsCenter points for discrete factorsOne often runs experiments in which
some factors are nominal. For example, Catalyst "A" might be the (-1) setting, catalyst "B"
might be coded (+1). The choice of which is "high" and which is "low" is arbitrary, but one
must have some way of deciding which catalyst setting is the "standard" one.
These standard settings for the discrete input factors together with center points for the
continuous input factors, will be regarded as the "center points" for purposes of design.

Center Points in Response Surface DesignsUniform precisionIn an unblocked response

surface design, the number of center points controls other properties of the design matrix. The
number of center points can make the design orthogonal or have "uniform precision." We will
only focus on uniform precision here as classical quadratic designs were set up to have this
property.Variance of predictionUniform precision ensures that the variance of prediction is
the same at the center of the experimental space as it is at a unit distance away from the
center.Protection against biasIn a response surface context, to contrast the virtue of uniform
precision designs over replicated center-point orthogonal designs one should also consider the
following guidance from Montgomery ("Design and Analysis of Experiments," Wiley, 1991,
page 547), "A uniform precision design offers more protection against bias in the regression
coefficients than does an orthogonal design because of the presence of third-order and
higher terms in the true surface.Controlling and the number of center pointsMyers, Vining,
et al, ["Variance Dispersion of Response Surface Designs," Journal of Quality Technology,
24, pp. 1-11 (1992)] have explored the options regarding the number of center points and the
value of somewhat further: An investigator may control two parameters, and the number
of center points (nc), given k factors. Either set = 2(k/4) (for rotatability) or k -- an axial
point on perimeter of design region. Designs are similar in performance with kpreferable
as k increases. Findings indicate that the best overall design performance occurs
with k and 2 nc 5.