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Modern gas turbines use high-performance ribs to improve internal cooling performance. In this study, the aerothermal performance of a bio-inspired truncated rib arrangement with stepped length and height variations, proposed in our previous work, is systematically studied using the numerical simulation method and the rib structures are optimized using the response surface methodology. A square channel model is employed to simulate the flow of actual turbine blade, and the rhombus-patterned ribs are placed on the two channel sidewalls. The studied structural parameters include the length variation rate, height variation rate, and pitch distance. It is found that as the rib height decreases, heat transfer is enhanced while the pressure drop is decreased. In general, however, as the variation rates of height and length increase, both the heat transfer coefficient and flow loss increase. The correlations between the thermal performance factor and the three structural parameters are obtained from thirteen cases of aerothermal performance analysis, and the optimal structure of rhombus-patterned ribs is further obtained: Δ l / l 1 = 0.333, Δ e / e 1 = 0.167, and p / e 1 = 2.000. The geometric layout optimization of the novel ribs is important for providing higher thermal performance of the internal channel and hence efficient cooling of the turbine blades. • Rhombus-patterned rib structures are optimized to enhance turbine blade aerothermal performance. • The response surface methodology is used for optimizing the structural parameters. • The optimized parameters include length variation rate, height variation rate, and pitch distance. • The relationship between the thermal performance factor and these parameters are correlated. • The rhombus-patterned ribs are also suitable for application in many heat exchange devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]