Chapter 1 - Modelling: Nature and Use

Abstract

Modelling in process and product engineering has a long history. This chapter sets out some of the rationale, use, and characteristics of modelling across the product and process life cycle. It deals with specific issues in the conceptualization, development, solution and deployment of models for applications in many domains of research, business, manufacturing and production. Models are ubiquitous—from those embedded as fuzzy model applications in washing machines through medical applications in anaesthetics, to models that attempt to predict climate variability. Models are routinely used in all areas of human endeavour and appear in various types and forms. This chapter takes a case study approach in illustrating the application of basic model-building principles to a wide range of application areas, in product and process engineering. Models are widely used in capturing, understanding, investigating and exploiting the aspects of a real-world situation. These applications have a wide range of characteristics in the underlying problem, as well as illustrating the use of multi-scale and multi-form modelling in seeking to answer important questions for which the model was created. Research and development employs a wide range of models, potentially applied to understand the fundamental aspects of the products, their properties, and the processes that will produce them.