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Response surfaces methodology, or RSM, is a collection of mathematical and statistical techniques useful for the modeling and analysis of problems in which a response of interest is influenced by several variables.
Much of today's engineering analyses depend heavily on running complex and expensive computer analysis codes. The complexity of these codes seems to keep pace with computing advances and the expense of running many analysis is still no-trivial.
RSM techniques are used in engineering design to construct approximations of these analysis codes and then used as synthetic approximation of them. These synthetic models, when found to be satisfactory, effectively replace the simulation in the next steps of optimisation or design space exploration. The important point to note is that these simplified models will calculate a response in near instantaneous time, with obvious advantages over an alternative such as finite element analysis.
Note: Predictions made within the observed space of predictor variable values are called interpolations. Predictions made outside the observed space of predictor variable values, called extrapolations, are sometimes necessary, but require caution.
To enter the Response Surfaces panel, click on the Response Surfaces icon
in the Design Space window
or select Assessment|Design Space|Open RSM
from the main menu.
