WG-10 - Review of Standards Proposal

This page is provided as a discussion forum to review the proposed checklist of model standards. Also see Modeling Standards.

Working document: Media:Standards.12sep09.xls

Working document in PDF format: Media:Standards.12sep09.pdf

Comments

ErdemirA 10:27, 1 March 2010 (EST) These comments pertain to September 12, 2009 version of the checklist. The recommendations are from the perspective of 3D modeling in continuum mechanics, as it relates to mechanical and anatomical representation of cells, tissues and organs.

On Group 1: Identification and Description

  • Version control of the models are important when the model is circulating. Recommendation: add item Version
  • In most cases, 3D models used in finite element analysis are separable from the software used to simulate them. It will be good to have a checklist on identifying the solvers (including their versions), which are compatible with the model. Recommendation: add item Compatible Simulation Software

On Group 2: Model Structure and Content

  • Assumptions in model development should be listed in here. While many of the assumptions are associated with the solver, some are important at the model level. For example, one may want to represent only elastic properties of the tissues (rather than the viscoelastic response) in a 3D finite element representation of the knee joint to simply investigations or as a result of the investigated activity being suitable for such an assumption. Recommendation: add item List of Modeling Assumptions
  • Numerical solvers need to be expanded to mention the algorithm used in the simulation software, e.g. is it a full-newton formulation (or quasi-newton). Also subproblems within the simulation may utilized different impelementations, which needs to be listed. That's an issue in contact problems, many different contact formulations within the same simulation software combined with the same solution algorithm can be utilized. A listing for subproblems may be useful. Recommendation: add items List of SubproblemsFormulations of SubproblemsGeneral Solution Strategy

On Group 3: Verification

  • In 3D modeling, the whole verification process seems to be the responsibility of software developers, e.g. the finite element analysis package. For the modeler, the role is to see if verification of the software is done. If not, conduct verification of the software within his/her capacity. This may be difficult but illustration of an attempt may increase confidence in modeling and simulation procedures. Recommendation: add item Author's Attempt to Verify 3rd Part Simulation Software
  • The components of the verification is not necessarily generalizable. They don't suit well with finite element analysis procedures. It may be useful to create a discipline based verification checklist. Recommendation: add item Discipline Specific Verification List
  • Discretization is a big part of the finite element analysis procedures, the verification checklist should include convergence test, i.e. does the results change by increasing the mesh density further? Recommendation: add item Mesh Convergence

On Group 4: Validation

  • The list should include comparison of results with experimental data. Recommendation: add item Comparison with Experimental Data
  • While full validation may not be possible for a complex 3D model, a simplified model can be developed to represent main features of the modeling and simulation procedure and validated, i.e. validate procedure rather than the model. Recommendation: add item Procedure Validation with Simple Representative Problem
  • A sensitivity analysis can support confidence to the model and simulation results. Recommendation: add item Sensitivity Analysis

On Group 5: Availability of Source Code and Forum for Critiques

  • An online rating system based on scientific and public reviews can be helpful. Recommendation: add item Online Rating System
  • Licensing information is necessary to establish the boundaries to use and distribute the model. Recommendation: add item Licensing
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