21-08-2012, 01:43 PM
System Modeling And Simulation Notes
When Simulation is the Appropriate Tool
· Simulation enables the study of and experimentation with the internal
interactions of a complex system, or of a subsystem within a complex
system.
· Informational, organizational and environmental changes can be
simulated and the effect of those alternations on the model’s behavior
can be observer.
· The knowledge gained in designing a simulation model can be of
great value toward suggesting improvement in the system under
investigation.
· By changing simulation inputs and observing the resulting outputs,
valuable insight may be obtained into which variables are most
important and how variables interact.
· Simulation can be used as a pedagogical device to reinforce analytic
solution methodologies.
Advantages of Simulation
· Simulation can also be used to study systems in the design stage.
· Simulation models are run rather than solver.
· New policies, operating procedures, decision rules, information flow,
etc can be explored without disrupting the ongoing operations of the
real system.
· New hardware designs, physical layouts, transportation systems can
be tested without committing resources for their acquisition.
· Hypotheses about how or why certain phenomena occur can be tested
for feasibility.
· Time can be compressed or expanded allowing for a speedup or
slowdown of the phenomena under investigation.
· Insight can be obtained about the interaction of variables.
· Insight can be obtained about the importance of variables to the
performance of the system.
Disadvantages of simulation
· Model building requires special training.
· Simulation results may be difficult to interpret.
· Simulation modeling and analysis can be time consuming and
expensive.
· Simulation is used in some cases when an analytical solution is
possible or even preferable.
When Simulation is the Appropriate Tool
· Simulation enables the study of and experimentation with the internal
interactions of a complex system, or of a subsystem within a complex
system.
· Informational, organizational and environmental changes can be
simulated and the effect of those alternations on the model’s behavior
can be observer.
· The knowledge gained in designing a simulation model can be of
great value toward suggesting improvement in the system under
investigation.
· By changing simulation inputs and observing the resulting outputs,
valuable insight may be obtained into which variables are most
important and how variables interact.
· Simulation can be used as a pedagogical device to reinforce analytic
solution methodologies.
Advantages of Simulation
· Simulation can also be used to study systems in the design stage.
· Simulation models are run rather than solver.
· New policies, operating procedures, decision rules, information flow,
etc can be explored without disrupting the ongoing operations of the
real system.
· New hardware designs, physical layouts, transportation systems can
be tested without committing resources for their acquisition.
· Hypotheses about how or why certain phenomena occur can be tested
for feasibility.
· Time can be compressed or expanded allowing for a speedup or
slowdown of the phenomena under investigation.
· Insight can be obtained about the interaction of variables.
· Insight can be obtained about the importance of variables to the
performance of the system.
Disadvantages of simulation
· Model building requires special training.
· Simulation results may be difficult to interpret.
· Simulation modeling and analysis can be time consuming and
expensive.
· Simulation is used in some cases when an analytical solution is
possible or even preferable.