System Dynamics Glossary
accumulation (integration)
a gradual,non-instantaneousincreaseordecrease ofaquantityovertime.Anaccumulatorisalsoreferredtoasastockorlevel andrepresentsthestateofasystem.Toaccumulateistheactofincreasing anddecreasingthesizeofastatevariable(astock)overtime.
aggregation
thegroupingofnumerousdistinctsystemcomponentsintoone variable.Aggregationisdoneforsimplicitywhenthegroupinggenerates thesamebehaviorofinterestasthosegeneratedbythecomponents separately
aging chain
asequenceofstocksconnectedbyconservedflowsinwhich
thestocksdepictthecontentsofthechainindifferentstages, conditions or locations, and the contents move in one direction along the aging chain.
A System Dynamics Glossary has been compiled by David Ford and published in System Dynamics Review. It is provided free for all to use if proper citation is given.
Ford, David. 2019. "A System Dynamics Glossary."
SystemDynamicsReviewvol35,No4(October/December2019):369–379
PublishedonlineinWileyOnlineLibrary
(wileyonlinelibrary.com)DOI:10.1002/sdr.1641