Key Concept

We introduce the notion of $D$-grid representation, where $D$ is the grid dimension, for the purpose of parametric studies. This formalism is a methodological effort and contribution to the field of parametric design and analysis.

We model the set of combinations of input values as a $D$-grid. A $D$-grid is a $D$-dimensional grid generated by $D$ finite and strictly ordered sets, where each grid dimension corresponds to a variable parameter of the study. The finite number of states that a (scalar) parameter can have, and where the system is to be evaluated, are stacked in ascending order into a set.

We found that the proper comprehension of this object, as detailed below, leads to a solid and generic methodology to organize and conduct a parametric study. It structures the way results can be browsed and interpolated over the parametric space.