Verification & Validation Toolkit to Assess Codes: Is it Theory Limitation, Numerical Method Inadequacy, Bug in the Code or a Serious Flaw?

Abstract:

We introduce and discuss an open-source, user friendly, numerical post-processing piece of software to assess reliability of the modeling results of environmental fluid mechanics' codes. Verification and Validation, Uncertainty Quantification (VAVUQ) is a toolkit developed in Matlab^© for general V&V proposes. In this work, The VAVUQ implementation of V&V techniques and user interfaces would be discussed. VAVUQ is able to read Excel, Matlab, ASCII, and binary files and it produces a log of the results in txt format. Next, each capability of the code is discussed through an example: The first example is the code verification of a sediment transport code, developed with the Finite Volume Method, with MES. Second example is a solution verification of a code for groundwater flow, developed with the Boundary Element Method, via MES. Third example is a solution verification of a mixed order, Compact Difference Method code of heat transfer via MMS. Fourth example is a solution verification of a 2-D, Finite Difference Method code of floodplain analysis via Complete Richardson Extrapolation. In turn, application of VAVUQ in quantitative model skill assessment studies (validation) of environmental codes is given through two examples: validation of a two-phase flow computational modeling of air entrainment in a free surface flow versus lab measurements and heat transfer modeling in the earth surface versus field measurement. At the end, we discuss practical considerations and common pitfalls in interpretation of V&V results.