Design sensitivities are a measure of how much an objective or constraint response varies due to a small change in a design variable. Based on this definition, they are sometimes referred to as sensitivity derivatives. Let’s discuss how to use them properly, as well as how not to use them.
First, note that the design sensitivities we refer to here are calculated for a particular design, not for a design space. Statistical methods of sensitivity analysis can provide useful information about a design space, but not the type of information we seek here.
Since a design represents a point in the design space, it is clear that sensitivities are defined at a point, as are mathematical derivatives. Two distinct designs within a design space will probably have different sensitivities unless the design space is linear, which is seldom the case for engineering problems. Continue reading