Simulation governance is concerned with (a) selection and adoption of the best available simulation technology, (b) formulation of mathematical models, (c) management of experimental data, (d) data and solution verification procedures, and (e) revision of mathematical models in the light of new information collected from physical experiments and field observations.
[5] Plans for simulation governance have to be formulated to fit the mission of each organization or department within an organization: In the terminology of structural and mechanical engineering, typical missions are: Note that items 1 to 3 require strength analysis where the quantities of interest are related to the first derivatives of the displacement field.
Item 4 refers to structural analysis where the quantities of interest are force-displacement relations or accelerations (as in crash dynamics).
This distinction is important because in strength analysis errors associated with the formulation of mathematical models and their numerical solution, for example by the finite element method, must be treated separately and verification, validation and uncertainty quantification must be applied.
Satisfactory results can be produced by artful tuning of finite element models with reference to sets of experimental data so that two large errors nearly cancel one another: One error is conceptual: inadmissible data violate basic assumptions in the formulation.