Translation vectors with non-identically distributed components

A model for non-Gaussian random vectors is presented that relies on a modification of the standard translation transformation which has previously been used to model stationary non-Gaussian processes and non-Gaussian random vectors with identically distributed components. The translation model has the ability to exactly match target marginal distributions and a broad variety of correlation matrices. Joint distributions of the new class of translation vectors are derived, as are upper and lower bounds on the target correlation that depend on the target marginal distributions. Examples are presented that demonstrate the applicability of the approach to the modelling of heterogeneous material properties, and also illustrate the possible shortcomings of using second moment characterizations for such random vectors. Lastly, an outline is given of a method under development for extending the model to non-stationary, non-Gaussian random processes. q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.