Complexity assessment using SysML models

Abstract System complexity is often associated with multiple issues such as schedule and cost overruns, poor performance or even program failure. With engineered systems becoming ever more complex it is of great interest to be able to assess the complexity of a system easily and during the design process. Since Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is becoming a widely used tool in systems development, a method to assess complexity using a SysML model and the information that is typically depicted in a model is developed. The complexity estimation in SysML was done by adapting the complexity metric developed by Sinha and Suh for a Design Structure Matrix (DSM).