Offering a modelling and simulation has resulted in supplying models of various types in various application areas, for numerous purposes and to many clients. To provide this service cost-effectively, it is highly desirable to idendtify patterns so that a general procedure for model development may be derived.
It is useful to look at the related, but more mature, discipline of software engineering in which a development procedure involving a number of distinct tasks has been identified. Taking a simple example of a hydraulically controlled gangway, the analogy between modelling and software development is explored.
The result of this comparison is the division of model development into a set of analogous tasks, and the organisation of these tasks into a development procedure. This procedure highlights the need for a document detailing the model purpose, top-level design, equations derivation strategy and validation strategy. Validation is defined as the process of gaining confidence that the model fulfils its purpose, as distinct from verification, that the equations have been implemented correctly, and matching, fitting of simulated data to measured data.
