skip to main content

Explore Research Products in the NSF-PAR

Title: A New Framework to Address BIM Interoperability in the AEC Domain from Technical and Process Dimensions
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an integrated informational process and plays a key role in enabling efficient planning and control of a project in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) domain. Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)-based BIM allows building information to be interoperable among different BIM applications. Different stakeholders take different responsibilities in a project and therefore keep different types of information to meet project requirements. In this paper, the authors proposed and adopted a six-step methodology to support BIM interoperability between architectural design and structural analysis at both AEC project level and information level, in which: (1) the intrinsic and extrinsic information transferred between architectural models and structural models were analyzed and demonstrated by a Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) model that the authors developed; (2) the proposed technical routes with different combinations, and their applications to different project delivery methods provided new instruments to stakeholders in industry for efficient and accurate decision-making; (3) the material centered invariant signature with portability can improve information exchange between different data formats and models to support interoperable BIM applications; and (4) a developed formal material information representation and checking method was tested on a case study where its efficiency was demonstrated to outperform: (1) proprietary representations and information checking method based on a manual operation, and (2) MVD-based information checking method. The proposed invariant signatures-based material information representation and checking method brings a better efficiency for information transfer between architectural design and structural analysis, which can have significant positive effect on a project delivery, due to the frequent and iterative update of a project design. This improves the information transfer and coordination between architects and structural engineers and therefore the efficiency of the whole project. The proposed method can be extended and applied to other application phases and functions such as cost estimation, scheduling, and energy analysis.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1745374
NSF-PAR ID:
10205445
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Advances in Civil Engineering Online
ISSN:
1687-8094
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ( , Construction Research Congress 2020)
    null (Ed.)
    Building information modeling (BIM) provides a novel way of information management for all lifecycle phases of a building project. It is facilitating the processes of a construction project, such as architectural design, structural analysis, and construction management. Industry foundation classes (IFC) is an open standard for information exchange between different BIM applications in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) domain. It represents project information in an interoperable way that contains geometric information, material information, and other physical and functional information needed of analyzing and managing a project. Structural analysis aims to simulate the structural performance of a building under different types of loads to make sure the structure is safe. The needed information for structural analysis mainly include geometric, material, and load information. These information come from architectural design and selected analysis scenarios. The information should be represented in an interoperable way to allow information transfer between different phases and different stakeholders. Information missing is a crucial problem during the interoperable use of BIM, which may cause misunderstandings between different stakeholders and therefore erroneous structural analysis result and misleading information to feed construction process later on. In this paper, the authors focus on analyzing the use of IFC at three stages in structural analysis, namely, intrinsic modeling stage, extrinsic modeling stage, and the analysis stage. The authors compared IFC files at these three stages with original BIM software text files in terms of information coverage, and identified information missing cases. This is the first systematic investigation of BIM interoperability at detailed work stages of structural analysis and provides insights in how BIM usage should be improved in this domain. 
    more » « less
  2. ( , Journal of construction engineering and management)
    de la Garza, J.M. (Ed.)
    There has been an increasing demand in building information modeling (BIM) for structural analysis. However, model exchange between architectural software and structural analysis software, which is an essential task in a construction project, is not fully interoperable yet. Various studies showed missing information and information inconsistency problems during conversion of models between different software; the lack of foundational methods enabling a seamless BIM interoperability between architectural design and structural analysis is evident. To address this gap and facilitate more use of BIM for structural analysis, the authors develop invariant signatures for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) objects and propose a new data-driven method to use invariant signatures for solving practical problems in BIM applications. The invariant signatures and the data-driven method were tested in developing the interoperable BIM support tool for structural analysis through an experiment. Ten models were created/adopted and used in this experiment, including five models for training and five models for testing. An information validation and mapping algorithm was developed based on invariant signatures and training models, which was then evaluated in the testing models. Compared with a manually created gold standard, results showed that the desired structural analysis software inputs were successfully generated using the algorithm with high accuracy. The invariant signatures of AEC objects can therefore be expected to serve as the foundation of seamless BIM interoperability. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ( , ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering 2019)
    Building information modeling (BIM) is widely used in the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) domain to support different applications such as cost estimation, planning & scheduling, and structural analysis. Structural analysis is an essential way to ensure structural safety. However, different structural analysis software may not process all information from building information models (BIMs) correctly, which impedes BIM interoperability. To address this problem, the authors proposed a new method for automatically checking information completeness of BIMs to support BIM usage in structural analysis in an interoperable manner. The method was tested in an experimental implementation using python programs and a structural analysis software. The checking results using the proposed method was compared with results from a manual checking and a Model View Definition (MVD)-based checking, respectively. The experiment showed a comparable or better performance of the proposed method in accuracy and efficiency than manual checking and MVD-based checking. Furthermore, the proposed method overcomes the scope limitation possessed by MVD-based checking. Therefore, the proposed information checking method is expected to support BIM interoperability by helping people identify missing information from IFC-based BIMs. The authors also proposed a new system model for the BIM information checking domain [i.e., information, model, application, and application context (IMAAC) model]. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ( , Construction Research Congress 2022)
    To allow full automation of building code compliance checking with different building design models and codes/regulations, input building design models need to be automatically validated. Automated architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) object identification with high accuracy is essential for such validation. For example, in order to check egress requirements, exits of a building (and their presence or absence) need to be identified automatically through object identification. To address that, the authors propose a new AEC object identification algorithm that can identify needed code checking concepts from building design models based on the invariant signatures of AEC objects, which consisted of Cartesian points-based geometry, relative location and orientation, and material mechanical properties. Building design models in industry foundation classes (IFC) format are processed into invariant signatures, which can fully represent the model data and convert them into computable representations to support automated compliance reasoning. A systematic implementation of the above invariant signatures-based object identification algorithm can be used to automatically conduct building design model validation for code compliance checking preparation. An experimental testing on Chapters 4 and 8 of the International Building Code 2015 and a convenience store design model showed the model validation using the proposed identification algorithms successfully validated ceiling and interior door concepts. Comparing to the manual validation used in current practice, this new object identification algorithm is more efficient in supporting model validation for automated building code compliance checking. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ( , Construction Research Congress 2018: Construction Information Technology)
    Building information modeling (BIM) is facilitating a procedural change for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry to share information in all the phases of the life cycle of a building. It possesses great advantages in designing, analyzing, and documenting all physical and functional information of a building and construction project. Structural analysis is an integral part of the life cycle phases of building construction projects. The information needed for structural analysis originates from the architectural model, but the architectural model can be created without much consideration of structural analysis. Software tools used by architects and structural engineers are usually different and sustain information inconsistency and or missing information leading to software interoperability problems. As the first step towards addressing this issue, in this paper, the authors conducted a preliminary literature review in order to identify topics and trends on the BIM interoperability problem with a focus on the structural analysis domain, from both the theoretic perspective and the application perspective. Structural analysis is performed and discussed in the following sections to demonstrate interoperability problems and propose possible solutions. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email