Computer Experiments With Both Qualitative and Quantitative Variables

Most literature assumes that all the input variables are quantitative. However, researchers often encounter computer experiments involving both qualitative and quantitative variables (BQQV).

In this article, a new interface on design and analysis for computer experiments with BQQV is proposed. The new designs are one kind of sliced Latin hypercube designs with points clustered in the design region and possess good uniformity for each slice. For computer experiments with BQQV, such designs help to measure the similarities among responses of different level-combinations in the qualitative variables.