How to select MDAO workflows

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Abstract

Multidisciplinary Design Analysis and Optimisation (MDAO) workflows consist of coupled tools driven by an algorithm for a specific purpose, e.g. optimisation. MDAO users may have at their disposal a set of tools of varying levels of fidelity. As a result, many permutations or MDAO workflows may arise, for which no clear methodology exists to evaluate, compare and rank them based on their performance. Our research question is then how to find the most useful MDAO workflows for a given purpose. This paper provides a guideline for solving this multiple criteria decision analysis problem. Our guideline includes a method to define the criteria and metrics for evaluating the performance of MDAO workflows, a strategy to aggregate the scores, and an optimisation algorithm for
categorical variables used to find the best alternatives. We apply this guideline to the offshore wind farm layout optimisation problem to demonstrate its use. This case study evidenced how critical t