Design Project Research Articles

Digital Application of BIM Technology in the Architectural Design Stage

This paper discusses the digital application of building information model (BIM) technology in the architectural design stage. Taking the large-scale comprehensive development project of Guangxi headquarters base as an example, this paper analyzes in detail how BIM technology promotes the intelligence and refinement of the design process. Through the three-dimensional modeling and simulation analysis of BIM technology, the project design has realized the accurate transformation from concept to operation, which not only improves the design efficiency, but also ensures the construction quality and economic benefits. This paper focuses on the application of BIM in the digital design of building structure, the deepening design of steel nodes, as well as the remarkable results in the comprehensive layout optimization of mechanical and electrical pipelines. Through the collision detection and optimization design of the BIM model, the potential design conflicts and construction problems were found and solved at the initial stage of the project, ensuring the efficient promotion and smooth implementation of the project. The research results show that BIM technology, as the core digital tool in the architectural design stage, is of great significance for improving the overall design level of the construction industry and realizing intelligent construction.

The Fold as a Design Strategy: Analogy between Architecture and Issey Miyake’s Work

There is a notable similarity between the objectives of Architecture and Fashion Design. Both disciplines aim to protect and establish a sense of identity for their users. Similarly, analogous design strategies may be employed. One such strategy is the fold. The act of folding a surface results in the formation of a three-dimensional volume. The intrinsic two-dimensionality of the surface gives rise to the formation of space, which is characterised by three dimensions. The air that is trapped by the envelope provides the necessary space for the users. In the context of clothing, the enclosed space is relatively limited and personal. In contrast, in the field of Architecture, the space is of a larger scale and serves a collective purpose, accommodating a variety of activities. Consequently, the processes of designing a building or a piece of clothing are analogous, differing only in terms of scale, time, and materials. The employment of the fold as a point of departure for architectural and Fashion Design projects entails a comparable design process in which concepts such as continuity, superposition, and faceting are associated with this folded mechanism. Consequently, the resulting outcomes, particularly those pertaining to mass and aesthetic perception, exhibit notable similarities.

Bid evaluation with distortionary scaling in multidimensional procurement auctions

ABSTRACT Construction projects are often procured through multidimensional auctions, in which suppliers bid on both price and non-price attributes such as quality. In Korea, a unique scaling method is employed to differentiate bids, adjusting scores to ensure a sufficient point difference between adjacent quality bids. This scaling method aims to enhance the discriminating power of the scoring system and attract more sophisticated project designs. However, it may distort overall bid rankings and lead to inefficient contract allocation. The added uncertainty may incentivize suppliers to inflate their prices, as the effect of price on winning probability decreases with the scaling factor. Using Korean procurement data, I analyse cases of rank reversal, and I reveal a tendency among suppliers to bid less aggressively on price when quality differences are magnified, with the effect varying with the level of uncertainty in bid evaluation. This highlights the preference of buyers for a less distortionary scoring system to enhance the value of procurement.

Archaeological Excavation, Protection, and Display Engineering Design Practice: A Case Study in the Ruins of the Imperial City of the Minyue Kingdom

The Han Dynasty Ruins in Chengcun Village of Wuyishan City, also known as the Ruins of the Imperial City of the Minyue Kingdom, are located on the hilly slope southwest of Chengcun Village, Xingtian Town, Wuyishan City, Fujian Province, China. These are ruins of a Han Dynasty city. Wuyi Mountain’s World Cultural and Natural Heritage Committee declared it a World Heritage Site in 1999. It is also the only imperial city site from the Han Dynasty that has been declared a World Heritage Site in China, and it is the most well-preserved large-scale imperial city site from the Middle Ages on the Pacific Rim. This study used comprehensive archaeological techniques, including archaeological excavation work, site information recording, erosion situation analysis, and geological surveys, to design and implement protective engineering projects in response to existing problems. In this study, the researchers conducted a geological survey of the study area to analyze the topography, rock and soil distribution characteristics, groundwater storage conditions, and geotechnical engineering conditions. At the same time, they explored the preservation status of the site, including the preservation status of the East Gate and the East City Wall, and they analyzed the causes of damage. Finally, the investigation and analysis results guided the design of a site display project, which included safeguarding against collapse and erosion, treating trees and shrubs, and designing the exhibition project for the East Gate. This study provides some practical reference for the excavation and archaeological work of the royal city in the surrounding areas. At the same time, in terms of the technical process of the project, it is also hoped to provide ideas for international ancient city excavation, display, and protection projects.

Community engagement enhances undergraduate civil engineering capstone design projects

Abstract Over the past several decades numerous studies have shown the value of community engagement in global water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs. Engaging and collaborating with communities through the design process enables wider community acceptance and ownership of WASH interventions, ensures a more functional and impactful design, and opens the door for co-benefits of these systems. Accounting for a range of dimensions within a community is critical to creating WASH designs that provide the most benefits. Undergraduate engineering curriculums focus on design, but often do not explicitly account for the social, environmental, and economic elements that affect the success, efficacy, and sustainability of a design. There is increasing emphasis on educating engineers on sustainability and systems thinking so they are equipped to solve complex, multidisciplinary problems. To understand how social, environmental, and economic elements fit into engineering design and how to create sustainable WASH interventions, undergraduate engineering students benefit from participating in WASH design projects that engage and collaborate with communities. This perspective highlights the value of community engagement with partners in Uganda in teaching water resources and environmental engineering design to undergraduate civil engineering students.

Design review dialogues: a study of reviewer-student verbal interaction in a signature feedback method

In place of unidirectional transmission of information, discourse on feedback advocates approaches that are more dialogic and promote student agency. The design review is a signature feedback method in architectural education. Although the review’s format involves verbal interaction between students and reviewers regarding the students’ design projects, there are differing views over the extent to which it aligns with a dialogic feedback ethos. This study analyses the talk between students and reviewers during design review sessions, using four established potentialities for student learning in dialogic feedback and applying interaction analysis to understand the conversational exchanges taking place. The findings reveal that contributions by reviewers dominated the sessions. However, they also posed questions, were willing to listen and employed talk strategies that build trust. Students responded to questions, but rarely took the initiative in their session. In considering implications for learning, several strategies to curate more student-centred dialogue are identified, especially around ways that elicit students’ engagement and nurtures their active reflection, critical thinking and feedback seeking, to harness latent interactional opportunities. These could apply to the design review or similar feedback methods based on student presentations.

Propagation Effect Analysis of Existing Cracks in Box Girder Bridges Based on the Criterion of Compound Crack Propagation

Cracking in concrete box girder bridges will have a significant impact on the safety and durability of the structure, and many box girder bridges which are in service have undergone varying degrees of cracking. Currently, the safety design of actual bridge projects place an emphasis on the stress or the load value of a cross section at the limit value specified in the code for safety control. This design method assumes that the member itself is of uniform and continuous material and is internally undamaged. However, the bridge structure is more or less cracked to varying degrees during the period from casting to construction to operation of the concrete members. In this paper, a finite element computational model of a three-span prestressed concrete box girder bridge with existing cracks is established based on the fracture mechanics theory, and the critical parameters of crack extension are introduced to evaluate the extension state of cracks. At the same time, the extended stability of the existing cracks of the box girder bridge is analyzed by considering the temperature effect, vehicle loading, and prestressing loss, and the sensitivity of crack extension under each working condition is investigated. The results show that, with the increase in crack length and depth, the crack expansion is promoted, but the effect is relatively small, and the maximum stress intensity factor is only 6.48 MPa mm1/2. Under the multi-factor coupling effect, the cracks show a composite crack expansion dominated by type I cracks, the longitudinal cracks of the existing base plate are in a stable state, the maximum value of the crack expansion critical parameter of the vertical cracks of the webs reaches 1.087, and there is a tendency to expand locally. The maximum value of the critical parameter for crack extension of the vertical crack in the web plate reaches 1.087, and there is a tendency towards local expansion. The crack extension evaluation criteria proposed in this paper have a certain reference value for crack extension research on similar concrete box girder bridges and provide a scientific basis for the optimized design of similar bridges.

Fostering metacognition in the design studio: The effect of minimal interventions on architectural students’ metacognitive awareness

This study investigates the role of metacognitive interventions in the design studio and the relationship between metacognitive awareness and design learning through quasi-experimental research. The study was conducted at an undergraduate design studio course with the participation of 80 fourth-year students divided into experimental and control groups. In the study, minimal metacognitive interventions prompting students to reflect on their design project and design process were administered in the experimental group during an academic term embedded in the design course. The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) was applied to both the experimental group and the control group as a pre-test and post-test to determine the impact of minimal interventions on metacognitive awareness. In addition, the relationship between metacognitive awareness and design course grade and the type and level of this relationship were analysed. According to the findings, metacognitive interventions significantly enhanced metacognitive awareness levels of students with lower metacognitive awareness. However, interventions did not result in a statistically significant difference in the design course grade. Furthermore, a moderate positive correlation was found between design course grades and pre-MAI scores, i.e., pre-MAI scores explained about 20 % of the variance in the design course grades. In conclusion, minimal interventions are beneficial at least to students with lower levels of metacognitive awareness and potentially more substantial interventions would be even more helpful to these students and other students with a higher level of metacognitive awareness.

Design and Implementation of an IoT- Based Weather Monitoring System forEnhanced Chicken Farm

The goal of the project is to address the difficulties faced by chicken farmers in properly controlling the environmental conditions of their farms through the design and implementation of an Internet of Things- based weather monitoring system. It investigates how Internet of Things (IoT) technology can be used to remotely monitor and regulate weather conditionsthat are critical to the health and productivity of chicken. The overall goals of the initiative are to maximize production efficiency, enhance animal welfare, and improve management methods on poultry farms. Chicken farms are extremely vulnerable to changes in temperature, humidity, and air quality, among other environmental factors. Unpredictable or unfavorable weather patterns can cause stress, lower egg production, and higher bird mortality rates. The goal of the project is to create an affordable, user-friendly weather monitoring system that will enable farmers to keep an eye on, control, and maintain the perfect environment for their chickens. The project's primary design focus is on placing wireless sensors all throughout the chicken farm to continuously monitor important meteorological factors. Through a user- friendly online or mobile application, farmers can obtain real-time weather data and receive alerts thanks to the sensors' connection to a central IoT network. In order to adapt the heating, cooling, and ventilation systems to variations in the weather, the system also includes automated actuators. The Internet of Things (IoT)-based weather monitoring system showed considerable advantages for chicken farmers after undergoing extensive testing and deployment.

Rationale and design of CHD PULSE: Congenital Heart Disease Project to Understand Lifelong Survivor Experience

BackgroundWith improved survival of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) comes a need to understand the lifelong outcomes of this population. The aim of this paper is to describe the rationale and design of Congenital Heart Disease Project to Understand Lifelong Survivor Experience (CHD PULSE), a study to determine long-term medical, neurocognitive, and psychosocial outcomes among adults with a history of intervention for CHD and to identify factors associated with those outcomes. MethodsCHD PULSE is a cross-sectional survey conducted from September 2021 to April 2023 among adults aged 18 and older with a history of at least one intervention for CHD at one of 11 participating U.S. centers in the Pediatric Cardiac Care Consortium. Participants with CHD were asked to complete a 99-question survey on a variety of topics including: demographics, surgeries, health insurance, health care, heart doctors, general health, height and weight, education and work history, reproductive health (for women only), and COVID-19. To construct a control group for the study, siblings of survey respondents were invited to complete a similar survey. Descriptive statistics for demographics, disease severity, center, and method of survey completion were computed for participants and controls. Comparisons were made between participants and non-participants to assess for response bias and between CHD participants and sibling controls to assess for baseline differences. ResultsAmong the 14,322 eligible participants, there were 3133 respondents (21.9%) from 48 U.S. states with surveys returned for inclusion in the study. Sibling contact information was provided by 691 respondents, with surveys returned by 326 siblings (47.2%). The median age of participants was 32.8 years at time of survey completion, with an interquartile range of 27.2 years to 39.7 years and an overall range of 20.1 to 82.9 years. Participants were predominantly female (55.1%) and of non-Hispanic White race/ethnicity (87.1%). There were no differences between participants and non-participants regarding severity of CHD. Compared to non-participants, participants were more likely to be female, of older age, and be of non-Hispanic White race/ethnicity. Enrolled siblings were more likely to be female and slightly younger than participants. ConclusionsWith surveys from 3133 participants from across the U.S., CHD PULSE is poised to provide keen insights into the lifelong journey of those living with CHD, extending beyond mere survival. These insights will offer opportunities for informing strategies to enhance and improve future outcomes for this population of patients.

CERTAIN ASPECTS OF RESEARCH WORK IN THE RESTORATION OF THE KYIV VELODROME

Kyiv Velodrome is the oldest sports facility in Ukraine and one of the oldest in Europe. In 2016-2017, the restoration of its track, administrative building, construction of an underground parking lot and reorganization of the adjacent territory were carried out. As part of the scientific and technical support, an examination of the velodrome track was carried out to determine all existing defects and damages and as a result, recommendations for their elimination were provided. In particular, solutions have been developed to repair cracks and recommended measures are aimed at preventing their appearance in the future. Also, within the scope of research work, some experimental studies were carried out with the designed constructions of the bicycle track for their compliance with the technical documentation and to establish durability (in laboratory conditions). The article analyzes and researches the structural and technological solutions proposed in the project documentation for the restoration and arrangement of the bicycle track, providing solutions and recommendations that will ensure the necessary quality and the project's design life. Thus, recommendations are being considered to reduce the likelihood of the appearance of new cracks and the development of existing ones on the track.

Performance of a Large‐Language Model in scoring construction management capstone design projects

AbstractGrading is one of the most relevant hurdles for instructors, diverting instructor's focus on the development of engaging learning activities, class preparation, and attending to students' questions. Institutions and instructors are continuously looking for alternatives to reduce educators' time required on grading, frequently, resulting in hiring teaching assistants whose inexperience and frequent rotation can lead to inconsistent and subjective evaluations. Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT‐4 may alleviate grading challenges; however, research in this field is limited when dealing with assignments requiring specialized knowledge, complex critical thinking, subjective, and creative. This research investigates whether GPT‐4's scores correlate with human grading in a construction capstone project and how the use of criteria and rubrics in GPT influences this correlation. Projects were graded by two human graders and three training configurations in GPT‐4: no detailed criteria, paraphrased criteria, and explicit rubrics. Each configuration was tested through 10 iterations to evaluate GPT consistency. Results challenge GPT‐4's potential to grade argumentative assignments. GPT‐4's score correlates slightly better (although poor overall) with human evaluations when no additional information is provided, underscoring the poor impact of the specificity of training materials for GPT scoring in this type of assignment. Despite the LLMs' promises, their limitations include variability in consistency and reliance on statistical pattern analysis, which can lead to misleading evaluations along with privacy concerns when handling sensitive student data. Educators must carefully design grading guidelines to harness the full potential of LLMs in academic assessments, balancing AI's efficiency with the need for nuanced human judgment.

Enhancing chip design verification through AI-powered bug detection in RTL code

This paper presents a novel AI-driven approach for enhancing chip design verification through automated bug detection in Register Transfer Level (RTL) code. The proposed method integrates advanced machine learning techniques with domain-specific knowledge of chip design to address the challenges of increasing complexity and time-to-market pressures in modern integrated circuit development. Our system employs a comprehensive data preprocessing pipeline that effectively captures syntactic and semantic features of RTL code, feeding into an innovative attention-based neural network model. The model demonstrates superior bug detection accuracy across diverse design categories and bug types compared to traditional methods and existing AI-assisted approaches. Extensive experimental evaluation on a large-scale dataset of RTL designs, including both open-source projects and industry collaborations, validates the effectiveness of our method. The proposed approach achieves a 95% accuracy in bug detection, with a 28-35% reduction in verification time when applied to real-world chip design projects. The paper addresses the interpretability of AI decisions in the context of chip design, presenting novel visualization techniques that enhance trust and facilitate adoption among RTL designers. While acknowledging current limitations, we discuss future research directions, including integration with formal verification methods and extension to system-level verification scenarios. This work contributes significantly to AI-assisted chip design, paving the way for more efficient and reliable development of complex integrated circuits.

A novel approach for integrating BIM and green building rating systems in the construction projects design phase

A novel approach for integrating BIM and green building rating systems in the construction projects design phase

Iinaaka Siinakupii Tsiniikii (Little video storyteller): co-designing digital literacy with Piikani First Nation

Tensions persist in co-designing appropriate forms of digital literacy with Indigenous peoples, particularly in contexts of settler colonialism. Given the historically extractive nature of many institutional research relations with Indigenous peoples, emphasis should be placed on community-led approaches to learn how people are adapting and adopting digital technologies. Through concepts like Niitooii (the same that is real; paralleling), Indigenous peoples offer guidance to ensure projects generate reciprocal benefits for both researchers and communities. In this context, our article documents a multi-year project to co-design a land-based camp blending Piikani (Scabby Robe People; an Indigenous People, prairie regions of Alberta, Canada and northern Montana, USA) First Nation culture with digital literacy pedagogies. Guided by Aapátohsipikáni (Northern Piikani, an Indigenous People, prairie region of Alberta, Canada) scholarship and research on Indigenous-settler relations and methodologies, we illustrate how our long-term, iterative project design generated good relations and moments of tension and transformation.

An innovative approach to automate BIM data retrieval and processing for building acoustic comfort calculations based on the IFC standard

Nowadays, there is a growing demand for deep renovation projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings while enhancing indoor comfort conditions for the inhabitants, both thermal and acoustic. To design effective renovation strategies, technicians need to know the current state of the building to propose acoustic or only thermal improvements. However, evaluating indoor acoustic comfort requires time-consuming and tedious calculations, which can be prone to errors when handled manually. While Building Information Modelling (BIM) can facilitate this process by leveraging the extensive contained data and offering the potential to automate these processes, such automation is not yet widespread. Typically, only geometric data is retrieved automatically from BIM models in acoustic software, while acoustic parameters must be provided manually. This paper addresses these challenges by introducing a novel approach that integrates automated data extraction from BIM with acoustic simulation tools. Specifically, an Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) solution was designed to automatically retrieve both geometric and acoustic data for an Acoustic Comfort tool, which calculates an estimation of indoor acoustic comfort, from an Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). This approach was tested in a demonstration case located in Spain, showing a significant reduction in processing time and increased accuracy compared to traditional methods of manually extracting data from BIM for acoustic assessment. This research represents a significant advance in acoustic simulations by integrating IFC data with automated processing, improving accuracy and offering practical advantages for developing more efficient and reliable BIM-based applications, thus supporting the design of deep renovation projects.

Challenges Facing the Use of Remote Sensing Technologies in the Construction Industry: A Review

Remote sensing is essential in construction management by providing valuable information and insights throughout the project lifecycle. Due to the rapid advancement of remote sensing technologies, their use has been increasingly adopted in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. This review paper aims to advance the understanding, knowledge base, and practical implementation of remote sensing technologies in the construction industry. It may help support the development of robust methodologies, address challenges, and pave the way for the effective integration of remote sensing into construction management processes. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive literature review, focusing on the challenges faced in using remote sensing technologies in construction management. One hundred and seventeen papers were collected from eight relevant journals, indexed in Web of Science, and then categorized by challenge type. The results of 44 exemplary studies were reported in the three types of remote sensing platforms (satellite, airborne, and ground-based remote sensing). The paper provides construction professionals with a deeper understanding of remote sensing technologies and their applications in construction management. The challenges of using remote sensing in construction were collected and classified into eleven challenges. According to the number of collected documents, the critical challenges were shadow, spatial, and temporal resolution issues. The findings emphasize the use of unmanned airborne systems (UASs) and satellite remote sensing, which have become increasingly common and valuable for tasks such as preconstruction planning, progress tracking, safety monitoring, and environmental management. This knowledge allows for informed decision-making regarding integrating remote sensing into construction projects, leading to more efficient and practical project planning, design, and execution.

Dynamic characteristics and microscopic mechanism of graphene oxide modified coastal soft soil under small strain

Graphene oxide (GO) has been shown to improve the static mechanical properties of cement soils. However, the dynamic mechanical properties of GO-modified cement soils are rarely investigated. Therefore, in this study, the effects of different confining pressures, GO contents, and curing ages on the small-strain dynamic shear modulus (G) and damping ratio (D) of GO-modified coastal cement soil (GOCS) are investigated via resonant column tests. The results show that the G of GOCS increases with the confining pressure, GO content, and curing age, whereas D decreases. Moreover, the GOCS indicate the highest stiffness improvement when 0.05 % GO is used as a modifier. The variation patterns of the maximum dynamic shear modulus and maximum damping ratio with the increase in the confining pressure, GO content, and curing age of the GOCS are consistent with the measured results. Microstructural analysis shows that the incorporation of GO can promote the early cement hydration of GOCS and increase its internal calcium-silicate-hydrate gel as well as its crystal types and numbers. The filling and bridging effects of GO not only enhance the stiffness of GOCS, thus increasing its G value, but also effectively reduce the energy consumption of the vibration wave in the sample, thus reducing its D value. The results of this study can provide important references and guidance for the design and construction of coastal soft-soil roadbed projects.

Communication Strategies for Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Bridging complex expertise

For consulting agencies, service design projects often face tight timelines, requiring rapid adaptation to clients' complex industries. Effective collaboration is crucial, especially in supply chain planning and healthcare logistics. How can strategic communication and interdisciplinary collaboration help leverage client expertise and achieve meaningful outcomes?

Know Your Tools: Neuroscience and Service Design

The early stages of service design projects are defined by empathy, awareness and a deep analysis of the context in which designers engage. Therefore, understanding our cognitive capacities (‘neuro-related tools’) enhances the ability to detect environmental cues, enriching the service design process, especially within innovative and creative explorations, to envision desirable futures.