A framework for assessing confidence in simulation-based design under uncertainty

Simulation-based design is being increasingly used in the design and development of complex engineering systems. This paper provides a taxonomy of the sources of errors and uncertainties that can be present in a simulation-based design paradigm. The paper also provides a method to assess confidence in a simulation-based design paradigm in the presence of uncertainties. The issue of assessing confidence in hierarchical models where models can be decomposed into sub-models is addressed