3 Flexibility
Engineering problems often require extensive parametric studies to understand
the influence of some variables on the solution in order to choose the
right set of variables and to answer some “what-if ” questions. This is an iterative
process that is extremely tedious and time-consuming if done by hand.
Computers and numerical methods are ideally suited for such calculations,
and a wide range of related problems can be solved by minor modifications in
the code or input variables. Today it is almost unthinkable to perform any significant
optimization studies in engineering without the power and flexibility
of computers and numerical methods.