A BIM-based framework for automated generation of fabrication drawings for façade panels

Abstract

Many modern commercial buildings involve complex shaped façades, resulting in increasing complexity as well as challenges in façade manufacturing and assembly processes. Currently, the keys to manufacture façade panels are fabrication drawings. However, generating fabrication drawings for façade panels using conventional approaches is time-consuming and error-prone, especially when the number of façade panels gets large. Computer-aided automation can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of the manufacturing and assembly process, while conventional drawing automation processes are not able to integrate information from various data sources and optimize drawing layouts. In this paper, a BIM-based framework is proposed to facilitate the automatic generation of fabrication drawings for façade panels. The framework integrates both graphical and non-graphical information from BIM models and other external data sources. Specific algorithms are applied to obtain proper drawing views and optimize drawing layouts based on the BIM geometric models. Complete fabrication drawings as well as a tabulated file with essential graphical information on similar components are generated automatically. The framework is demonstrated using an illustrative example and it shows that time and human effort can be significantly reduced. As a result, all the fabrication drawings of similar façade panels follow a consistent drawing format with explicit layout, leading to higher readability.