Verification & Validation in Engineering Simulation

Engineering simulation plays an increasing role in industry’s search for competitiveness and technology based innovation at every stage of the design, qualification and certification of products. Key decisions and product qualification & certification increasingly rely on virtual tests and digital simulation, creating a major paradigm shift in which the objective of physical tests is progressively moving from a demonstration of compliance to a reference for analysis validation. This trend in industry is shown through adoption of terms such as realistic simulation and virtual testing. This situation creates new responsibility for the engineer to guarantee the required confidence level.

This new approach requires secured processes for the verification and validation of models and analyses bringing evidence of their predictive capability. In particular, programme managers now require formal evidence on“simulation fit for purpose” on which they can build confidence and take decisions. In addition, the increasing situation for extended enterprise creates new constraints to guarantee safe and robust analysis processes.

At the same time, and due to the economic pressure, Verification & Validation activities are frequently seen as an additional cost that can easily be reduced or even fully cut, thus underestimating the induced risks. In addition, V&V is not easy to implement because of the diversity of involved persons: managers, simulation experts,test specialists, software developers and quality controllers, software vendors…

This Master Class is especially dedicated to Verification & Validation and credibility assurance methodologies for numerical simulation in Engineering. Participants of this master class will:

• Develop their knowledge in V&V including fundamental concepts, most recent methodologies and contents of existing standards.
• Understand essential links between the product validation/certification and simulation V&V.
• Learn how to plan and prioritize simulation V&V including physical tests programmes.
• Understand validation test issues and improve synergy between virtual and physical tests in the context of validation.
• Learn how to build business cases allowing for justification of V&V plans.
• Understand simulation V&V organisation and management issues and best practises
• Learn how to implement reporting to bring visibility and confidence to all managers concerned with simulation outcomes.
• Be able to adapt or tailor the course methodologies to their specific industrial context, and further improve their V&V processes and plans.

Course Program

Introduction

• Industrial context and stakes
• Simulation in the product lifecycle
• Industrial implementation of simulation

Validation, Qualification & Certification of Industrial Products

• Fundamentals on product validation, qualification and certification
• The analysis-test pyramid
• Virtual testing and realistic simulation
• Introduction to new technologies and TRL
• Regulations and certification in aeronautics
• Situation of the nuclear industry

Verification & Validation and Simulation Management

• Scope and complexity of the management of simulation
• Simulation management activities: software capability management / V&V / skills management / quality management / SPDM / CAD / CAE…..

Realistic Simulation

• Existing technology and new enhancements available to industry: HPC, cloud, open source, multi-scale, multi-physics….
• Connection with CAD/PLM
• Benefits and threats of realistic visualization
• Impact on V&V plans

Verification & Validation Fundamentals and Standards

• Fundamentals
• Verification
• Validation and uncertainty quantification
• Predictive maturity
• V&V process and responsibilities
• Standards
• Short history of standardization in V&V
• Main standards: ASME, AIAA, NASA…
• Other initiatives

Verification

• Verification of software codes
• Verification of algorithms
• Quality assurance for software: methodologies for SW development, regression tests…
• Verification of analyses
• Validation and Test/Simulation Synergy
• Validation process and constraints
• Physical and virtual testing collaboration
• Objectives and typology of physical tests
• Prerequisites for successful validation tests
• Predictive maturity
• Some industrial examples (aerospace, nuclear…)

Uncertainty Quantification

• Typology : random, epistemic uncertainties
• Selective methodologies for uncertainty quantification: Monte Carlo, Latin hypercube, response surfaces, polynomial chaos, “Lack of knowledge” theory (theory of misconceptions?), theory of evidence…..
• Sensitivity analysis, robustness (key parameters identification…)

Verification & Validation Implementation Strategies

• Setting-up V&V plans
• Implementation issues and obstacles
• Industrial justification (V&V business case)
• Costs, benefits and risk management
• Organization and skills