Development of an assessment procedure for the problem-specific selection of most suitable modeling methods for complex systems

Currently there are hundreds of known modeling methods that are applied to countless problems in engineering. A purposeful selection of the right modeling methods is crucial for successful problem solving. However, adequate procedures for the problem-specific selection of most suitable modeling methods are missing. The selection of suboptimal modeling methods often leads to increasing costs, development time, and an inferior design of products. Based on a review on existing procedures, a concept for an assessment procedure for the problem-specific selection of most suitable modeling methods is developed and implemented. Main steps for the procedure are identified, the concept of classification-domain-trees is developed and a customized vector space approach is used for the selection of the most suitable modeling methods. The evaluation study shows that the developed concept is applicable and that appropriate problem-specific modeling methods can be reliably identified by using the implemented concept.