Knowledge-based Generation Of The AssemblyOrder Of Elements In Wooden Construction

Abstract

In order to develop new, improved systems for building construction, it is necessary to evaluate the various factors related to construction methodology. This paper presents a method for generating the assembly order of building elements in wooden housing structures based on an information about the characteristics of the building construction systems such as physical considerations about the positions of building elements relative to one another, or the jointing method employed, etc. In order to derive criteria for judging the assembly order of wooden elements, 2,355 connections in three common types of building construction systems for wooden houses currently in use in Japan were surveyed. For each of these connections, data related to the assembly order and its determinants were examined. A portion of the information was drawn from the results of building site surveys conducted within the last four years, and specialists in the field were interviewed as well. Based on the results of the survey, 16 separate judging rules for assembly order were deduced. In these rules, knowledge about the relationship between each of the discrete elements was obtained through inference based on characteristic data of the building construction systems. The knowledge-based system (KBS) employed by the author to generate the assembly sequence composed of inference engine, utility module, knowledge base about assembly rules and judgement rules on the relation between two elements. The system was constructed by using Prolog, whereas the input data was composed of list-structured data. Through the application of this system to some different types of model structures, it is proved that we can get the proper assembly order of all structural elements. Therefore, the system can be used as a tool for evaluating newly developed wooden building construction systems from the point of view of construction steps.