What is verification and validation (V&V)?
Definition
Verification and validation (V&V) are the two checks that establish how far a simulation can be trusted. Verification asks whether the computational model solves its equations correctly. Validation asks whether those equations represent the real system, by comparing predictions with experimental data. Together they set the credibility of a simulation result.
Example
A CFD team solves a wing case on progressively finer meshes; how much the lift changes from one mesh to the next estimates the discretization error (verification). It then runs the case at the conditions of a wind-tunnel test and compares with the measurements, reading the difference against the experimental and numerical uncertainties (validation).
Sources
- ASME, "Verification, Validation and Uncertainty Quantification (VVUQ)," asme.org
- NPARC Alliance CFD V&V site (NASA Glenn), "Examining Spatial (Grid) Convergence," grc.nasa.gov