This document presents guidelines for assessing the credibility of modeling and simulation in computational fluid dynamics. The two main principles that are necessary for assessing credibility are verification and validation. Verification is the process of determining if a computational simulation accurately represents the conceptual model, but no claim is made of the relationship of the simulation to the real world. Validation is the process of determining if a computational simulation represents the real world.

This document defines a number of key terms, discusses fundamental concepts, and specifies general procedures for conducting verification and validation of computational fluid dynamics simulations. The document's goal is to provide a foundation for the major issues and concepts in verification and validation. However, this document does not recommend standards in these areas because a number of important issues are not yet resolved. It is hoped that the guidelines will aid in the research, development, and use of computational fluid dynamics simulations by establishing common terminology and methodology for verification and validation. The terminology and methodology should also be useful in other engineering and science disciplines.