Building Information Modeling Workflow Research Articles

IFC CLASS ASSIGNMENT ADD-ON: BIM MODELLING FOR ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING PROJECTS USING BLENDER

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a working methodology for the design and management of construction projects that facilitates collaboration and communication between the different parties involved. It is based on the digital three-dimensional representation of infrastructures within the field of architecture and civil engineering. The generated models are true data containers, capable of storing the geometric and semantic information necessary to support the design, construction and maintenance operations of the assets. This methodology promotes data exchange between different software tools through interoperability and the use of standards. Usually in the development of projects throughout their life cycle, commercial, closed-source BIM software is used. This generally leads to limitations in interoperability and data reuse. This paper details advances in the use of Blender, a free and open-source software (FOSS), to support BIM workflows in construction projects. The paper addresses the automation of the process to export a 3D Blender model to a BIM model in IFC (Industry Foundation Classes). The IFC Class Assignment add-on is developed, which allows the automated assignment of IFC classes to the different elements of the 3D model in Blender to convert it into a BIM model, using scripts written in Python. The proposed extension is able to generate, in an agile and simple way, digital models in IFC4, adequately storing the geometric and semantic information of its components. The results provide a tool that contributes to automate the creation of BIM models in an open-source software such as Blender, simplifying modelling processes and supporting collaboration and standardisation in architectural and engineering projects. Keywords: BIM, IFC, Automation, Free and Open-Source Software, Blender, Python.

BIM-Assisted Workflow Enhancement for Architecture Preliminary Design

China’s urban housing demand has directly influenced urbanization development. To stabilize the level of urbanization, it is urgent to optimize the whole life-cycle efficiency of construction and the preliminary design as the first step is even more significant. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is widely used as information technology in the construction industry to promote the implementation and management of projects. However, the traditional preliminary design approach still occupies the mainstream market without forming a systematic BIM workflow, which causes inefficiency. To address this issue, this research aims to construct a BIM-assisted workflow to enhance the preliminary design efficiency of architecture. This study creates traditional and BIM-assisted workflows for comparative analysis to capture duration data with a questionnaire and validate by practical simulation. The findings show that the BIM-assisted workflow consumes less time than the traditional workflow. This research indicates that the BIM-assisted workflow can significantly reduce operation time to enhance preliminary design efficiency and deserves to be strongly promoted in the Chinese Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry.

Parametric HBIM Procedure for the Structural Evaluation of Heritage Masonry Buildings

In the architecture, engineering and construction sectors, Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based procedures have become adopted more and more. In fact, the development of suitable BIM models facilitates the management of the design and construction phases and improves the efficiency of the maintenance policies during the life cycle of the building. Although the BIM method is mostly implemented in the building industry for new constructions, in recent years, the deployment of this technology has also attracted increasing attention for existing structures to rebuild their geometry and gather relevant data, especially for historical buildings; in this case, we refer to Heritage BIM (HBIM). A HBIM procedure requires a multidisciplinary approach involving not only historical, conservation, and restoration considerations but also suitable maintenance and repair plans, duly balancing the structural needs with the preservation of the historical value of the building and its content. Although the integration of the structural assessment in the HBIM process would be highly beneficial, its practical implementation is often in the early stages. In the paper, an original parametric procedure for the assessment of existing masonry buildings is proposed in the BIM environment. The procedure combines E-PUSH, a software program for the structural analysis of masonry structures under seismic and non-seismic actions with an appropriate BIM approach, so improving the management of gathered data through cognitive phases. The assessment process is, thus, simplified since data required for the structural analysis are directly retrieved from the BIM model, and the structural analyses and verifications are performed without using external programs. The proposed BIM workflow is finally illustrated and discussed referring to a relevant case study, the seismic vulnerability assessment of the “Bernardo Rucellai” school in Florence (Italy).

Factors impacting BIM application in prefabricated buildings in China with DEMATEL-ISM

PurposeSome papers have investigated the complex factors impacting building information modeling (BIM) application in prefabricated buildings (PBs), but few paid attention to their interaction relationships. Ignoring the fact that different factors are not isolated may lead to some key factors being overlooked without appropriate improvement strategies being proposed. This paper aims to analyze those factors and their inter-relationships, with the view to identify the critical factors and their interaction relationships so as to derive constructive strategies that would effectively facilitate BIM adoption in Chinese prefabrication.Design/methodology/approachFirst, factors influencing BIM application in prefabrication are extracted and collated by literature review, expert interview and analysis of PBs characteristics. Thereafter, an evaluation laboratory (decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory) and interpretive structural modeling are used to explore the relationships and hierarchy among the factors. Based on the degree of cause and centrality, critical factors are extracted and the interaction relationship are investigated.FindingsThe results show that BIM policies and standards for PBs are the main causal factors. The maturity of BIM software and BIM data interface for PBs, willingness to share data, the strategic goals of the enterprise, BIM law and BIM input and benefit are the main transitional factors while BIM staff and workflow, enterprise attitude, distribution of BIM liability and cooperation of participants are the main direct factors.Originality/valueBased on the above findings, corresponding improvement strategies are proposed so as to promote BIM application in prefabrication and the rapid development of China’s PBs efficiently.

BIM-Based Pavement Management Tool for Scheduling Urban Road Maintenance

The latest advancements in road asphalt materials and construction technologies have increased the difficulty for engineers to select the appropriate pavement design solution with consideration of proper timing for maintenance planning. On the other hand, Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools allow practitioners to efficiently store and manage large amounts of data, supporting decision making in road asphalt pavement design and management. The present work focused on the elaboration of a BIM-based maintenance analysis tool for the specific evaluation of several condition indicators and the selection of proper maintenance solutions designed to include alternative materials and advanced recycling technologies. A traditional BIM workflow was integrated with additional user-defined property sets to investigate the need for maintenance at the present date and predict the degradation curve of the condition indicators through the least square interpolation of time series of data. The analysis tool also provided the selection of available pavement alternatives from a library of designed solutions based on their compliance with project-specific constraints (maximum budget, minimum useful life, and availability of secondary raw materials and in-place recycling technologies). The proposed BIM tool aims to be a practical and dynamic way to integrate maintenance planning considerations into road pavement design, encouraging the use of digital tools in the road industry and ultimately supporting a pavement maintenance decision-making process oriented towards a circular economy.

BIM and Mechanical Engineering—A Cross-Disciplinary Analysis

Mechanical Engineering (ME) includes the design, manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance of mechanical subsystems for Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Owner-Operator (AECO) projects. The intense adoption of information and communication technology in the AECO started with building product modelling, which was originally pioneered in the ME domain (i.e., automotive industry). The complexity and limited openness of product models paved the way for Building Information Modelling (BIM). Today, BIM workflows require an exchange of interoperable architecture, structure, and MEP/HVAC models and their seamless integration into a shared BIM model. Many specialized ME systems exist (i.e., medical gases and vacuum) for which BIM is not mature enough and where the role of BIM has not yet been studied. Therefore, a comprehensive cross-disciplinary analysis on the mutual influence of the BIM and the ME domain is needed for researchers and professionals. It identifies research fields and trends at the intersection of BIM and ME and analyzes their scope, limitations, and requirements for future extensions of BIM for better integration with ME. The analysis is based on an extensive literature search considering the interdisciplinary nature of ME. The initial collection of papers has undergone a rigorous bibliometric analysis that used a text mining approach for validation. Results show the field “Industry 4.0” as the most prosperous BIM influencing research field, followed by “Energy optimisation” and “Environmental Product Declaration”, while identifying “Geometric optimisation” and “Reinforced material” as the trendiest. Finally, conclusions on the impact of BIM on ME were drawn and 11 research opportunities were identified. This paper provides directions for studies where research is focused on the integration of ME systems in BIM workflows and on the extension of BIM capability to model future ME systems.

Web-Based Tool for Interoperability among Structural Analysis Applications

AbstractOver the last decade, building information modeling (BIM) has been the main player in the architectural, engineering, construction, and operation (AECO) industry. The BIM workflow is becomi...

A scan to as-built building information modeling workflow: a case study in Malaysia

Purpose Three dimensional (3 D) laser scanner surveying is widely used in many fields, such as agriculture, mining and heritage documentation and can be of great benefit for as-built documentation in construction and facility management domains. However, there is lack of applied research and use cases integrating 3 D laser scanner surveying with building information modeling (BIM) for existing facilities in Malaysia. This study aims to develop a scan to as-built BIM workflow to use 3 D laser scanner surveying and create as-built building information models of an existing complex facility in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach was followed to develop a scan to as-built BIM workflow through four main steps: 3 D laser scanning, data preprocessing, data registration and building information modeling. Findings This case study proposes a comprehensive scan to as-built BIM workflow which illustrates all the required steps to create a precise 3 D as-built building information model from scans. This workflow was successfully implemented to the Eco-Home facility at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Originality/value Scan to as-built BIM is a digital alternative to manual and tedious process of documentation of as-built condition of a facility and provides a detail process using laser scans to create as-built building information models of facilities.

Development of a Project-Based Online Course for BIM Learning

The purpose of this paper was to present a method for developing a project-based online course for building information modeling (BIM) learning. As the development of BIM has gradually increased its influence on the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries, countries around the world have begun to focus on BIM education and import it into university courses. However, there have been many studies pointing out several problems with the BIM education curriculum. For example, BIM education should not be limited to modeling work, and students do not exactly know the entire BIM workflow. Therefore, this research proposed a project-based online course development method for solving BIM educational issues. The proposed method contains a course development process and guidelines for designing the course. As an example implementation, a five-week Autodesk Revit learning curriculum was developed. Such a curriculum was then utilized in a 32 student class for testing its effectiveness. The results showed that students could understand the BIM process more effectively through the designed project-based course. Additionally, with online video tutorials, students are free to allocate their study time based on their personal needs and adjust their learning progress for better understanding of the course contents.

BIM Data Exchange Standard for Hydro-Supported Structures

With the rapid adoption of building information modeling (BIM) across diverse industries, the need for a universal standard for BIM data exchanges has become critical for the success of BIM applications. Questions of the level of development and interoperability of BIM as methods to exchange data and integrate various model-based applications into an efficient work process have come to the forefront of BIM standardization to improve the design and construction of facilities. Current BIM software authoring tools center on conventional structural systems and are not yet adequate for modeling floating structures. Hydro-supported structures comprise a special type of structure that relies primarily on the hydraulic buoyancy of the supporting water body to maintain equilibrium and safety. It is an area that is increasingly drawing the attention of architects and engineers to resolve many issues in coastal areas and to deal with issues related to increased flooding and tropical storms, such as shoreline stabilization, hurricane response, alternative energy, and rainwater collection and utilization. The study centers on expanding BIM standardization for designing and analyzing floating and amphibious structures. It seeks to address the information delivery manual (IDM) and model view definitions (MVDs) as they provide the basis for data exchange specifications for the industry foundation classes (IFC) schema. This research aims to enable a proficient BIM workflow for designing hydro-supported structures characterized by the coherent, organized, and reproducible exchange of consistent data that is commonly recognized across the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.

Developing a Modular Advanced BIM Course in Construction Management

Due to the rapid adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, many construction management (CM) programs in the US have introduced BIM in their curriculum. Previous research has revealed that most of the BIM courses offered in CM programs have mainly focused on modeling skills as well as BIM applications in scheduling and estimating. While these topics appear to be important to apply BIM technology, students will not be able to fully understand the BIM process in a construction project without knowing the fundamental workflow of BIM. This paper presents a modular BIM course which was developed to help CM students better understand the BIM workflow and focuses on advanced uses of BIM in construction projects. The course contains three modules: BIM workflow, basic BIM applications, and advanced BIM applications. The BIM workflow module discusses how BIM is addressed in project delivery method, contract, the execution plan, and team building. The basic BIM applications module explains the typical BIM applications in coordination, scheduling, estimating, logistics, visualization, etc. The advanced BIM applications module demonstrates the latest technology advances in the AEC industry that utilizes BIM applications, including laser scanning, virtual reality, and mixed reality. The course objectives and assessment methods ensure that CM students’ understanding of BIM will be considerably improved from as a modeling tools or software program to an efficient process, and their insights into BIM will be significantly broadened beyond the existing 3D, 4D, and 5D applications. The highly positive course evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of these approaches in meeting course objectives, delivering course materials, as well as raising students’ interest. This paper will serve as a case study of an advanced level BIM course in CM programs.

Modeling the performance of sustainable sanitation systems using building information modeling

Having a reliable sanitation system is one of the aims of both developed and developing countries. This goal cannot be reached effectively without handling it in a sustainable manner. Considering the fact that Egypt is the highest water consumer and sewage producer in the region makes it even more challenging to work on this quest. The main problem which faces the sanitation municipalities in Egypt is that most of the sanitation infrastructure is aging because it was built in the first half of the previous century. This research aims at presenting a framework for planning sustainable sanitation collection and treatment systems through the utilization of Building Information Modeling (BIM), Building Performance Modeling (BPM) and Computer Simulation (CS). Firstly, the procedure of using BIM and the difference between BIM workflow and drafting-centric workflow are demonstrated to ensure clear understanding of the new system, Building Performance Modeling is utilized to model an anaerobic sewage treatment plant, and then the outputs of the model are presented. Information models of a part of a sewer network and an anaerobic treatment plant are introduced to show how Building Information Modeling can improve the sustainability of the system. Also, a simulation tool is presented to model the flow in the sewer network to help in monitoring the pipeline's performance, and condition. In addition, it aids in detecting any failures in the system and in guiding the operator to the most suitable rehabilitation or replacement technique to deal with the detected failure. Finally, a solar study is introduced to replace the auxiliary electrical loads of the buildings in the wastewater treatment plant with solar energy to enforce the environmental and economical dimensions of sustainability.

O PAPEL DO ARQUITETO EM EMPREENDIMENTOS DESENVOLVIDOS COM A TECNOLOGIA BIM E AS HABILIDADES QUE DEVEM SER ENSINADAS NA UNIVERSIDADE

Este artigo discute o papel do arquiteto em empreendimentos desenvolvidos com tecnologia de Modelagem da Informação da Construção (Building Information Modeling – BIM). O objetivo do estudo é identificar as competências ligadas ao BIM requeridas desse profissional e o apontamento de quais devem ser ensinadas na graduação, especialmente no ensino de projeto de arquitetura. Inicialmente, é apresentada a atual situação da implementação de BIM por empresas do setor de Arquitetura, Engenharia Civil, Construção e Facility Management (AEC/FM) no Brasil. Em seguida, é apresentado um modelo teórico para um fluxo de trabalho BIM que pode ser adaptado para ser utilizado no Brasil. Tendo como base esse fluxo, que se divide em oito etapas, o papel do arquiteto é discutido, assim como as novas competências requeridas desse profissional. Adicionalmente, o currículo de arquitetura é discutido para saber em quais disciplinas o BIM pode ser introduzido e quais conteúdos deveriam ser ensinados. O estudo se baseou em revisão da literatura, com a qual foi possível conhecer o que muda no ensino de projeto de arquitetura com o uso de BIM.