620 Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten
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We give a summary of our results based on discrete Cauchy-Riemann operators in the plane. These operators are defined in a way that the factorization of the real Laplacian into two adjoint Cauchy-Riemann operators is possible. This property is similar to the continuous case and can especially be used for calculating the discrete fundamental solution of our finite difference operators. Based on the discrete fundamental solution we define a discrete operator that is right inverse to the discrete Cauchy-Riemann operator. In relation with this operator and an operator on the boundary we are able to prove a discrete version of the Borel-Pompeiu formula. In the second part we present a possibility to solve discrete Stokes and Navier-Stokes problems. The concept is based on the orthogonal decomposition of the space l2 into the space of discrete holomorphic functions and its orthogonal complement. By introducing the orthoprojectors P+h and Q+h we can prove the existence and uniqueness of the solution of discrete Stokes problems. In addition we state a problem that is equivalent to the discrete Navier-Stokes problem and can be used in an iteration procedure to describe the solution of this problem. For a special case of the Navier-Stokes equations we are able to calculate discrete potential and stream functions. The adapted model includes important algebraical properties and can immediately be used for numerical calculations. A numerical example is presented at the end of the article.
Usually, the co-ordination of design and planning tasks of a project in the construction industries is done in a paper based way. Subsequent modifications have to be handled manually. The effects of modifications cannot be determined automatically. The approach to specify a complete process model before project start does not consider the requirements of the construction industries. The effort of specification at the beginning and during the process (modifications) does not justify the use of standard process model techniques. A new approach is presented in the according paper. A complete process model is deducted on the basis of a core. The core consists of process elements and specific relations between them. Modifications need to be specified in the core only. The effort of specification is therefore reduced. The deduction of the complete process is based on the graph theory. Algorithms of the graph theory are also used to determine the effects of modifications during project work.
Modellverwaltungssysteme sind eine geeignete technologische Basis zum Management digitaler Bauwerksmodelle bei Planungstätigkeiten für den Neubau als auch für die Revitalisierung von Bauwerken. Die Unterstützung von Revitalisierungsprozessen impliziert für den Entwurf integrierter Planungsumgebungen spezifische Anforderungen wie die Repräsentation von Informationen, die mit verschiedenen Typen von Vagheit behaftet sind, die Notwendigkeit, den Soll- sowie den Ist- Zustand des Bauwerks abzubilden und die Fähigkeit des Umgangs mit temporal inkonsistenten Modellzuständen. Die erforderliche Dynamik der Domänenmodelle und die erforderliche Nutzbarkeit in Virtual Enterprises stellen weitere Ansprüche an die Realisierungsbasis der Modellverwaltungssysteme. Zur Implementierung derartiger Systeme erweist es sich als vorteilhaft, Eigenschaften objektorientierter Programmiersprachen mit nichtstatischen Typsystemen auszunutzen, da diese durch die vorhandene Metaebene sowie Introspektions- und Reflektionsmechanismen eine effiziente Realisierungsbasis bereitstellen. Zur effektiven Unterstützung synchroner kooperativer Planungstätigkeiten innerhalb einzelner Fachdisziplinen wurde ein Benachrichtigungsmechanismus realisiert, der an das Modellverwaltungssystem angekoppelte Fachapplikationen über nebenläufig vorgenommene Modifikationen am zugehörigen Domänenmodell oder an Projektinformationen informiert. Weiterhin existiert ein Mechanismus zur vereinfachten Anbindung von existierenden Applikationen, die auf statischen Partialmodellen beruhen oder standardisierte, modellbasierte Austauschformate unterstützen. Abschließend wird eine aus einem zentralen Projektserver, Domänenservern und Domänenclients bestehende hybride Systemarchitektur vorgestellt, die geeignet ist, unter den Randbedingungen kooperativer und geographisch verteilter Arbeit bei Revitalisierungsvorhaben in Virtual Enterprises eingesetzt zu werden.
Der lebensdauerorientierte Entwurf von Stabbogenbrücken, mit Zuschnitt auf die Auslegung von Hängern, die durch Ermüdung infolge wirbelinduzierter Querschwingungen gefährdet sind, wird als stochastisches semi-infinites Optimierungsproblem formuliert. Zur Lösung dieses Problems sind mehrere Modellierungsebenen erforderlich, so dass ein Mehrebenenproblem entsteht. Es wird der derzeitige Entwicklungs- und Implementierungsstand bei der Umsetzung des Mehrebenenproblems in ein Entwurfsleitsystem (Software) aufgezeigt. Außerdem werden die Konzepte der noch ausstehenden Forschungsarbeit, die bereits erfolgreich beim lebensdauerorientierten Entwurf von Industriehallen mit Rahmensystem als Haupttragwerk eingesetzt wurden, diskutiert und ihre Einbildung in die bisher umgesetzte Forschungsarbeit erläutert.
Objektorientierte Anwendungen aus dem Ingenieurwesen bestehen aus strukturierten Mengen, deren Elemente Objekte sind. Zwischen den Objekten bestehen vielfältige Abhängigkeiten. Die Beziehungen sind zur Zeit der Entwicklung einer Anwendung nur teilweise bekannt. Beziehungen zwischen Objekten müssen deshalb auch zur Laufzeit der Anwendung erzeugt und gelöscht werden können. Aufgrund des hohen Rechenaufwandes wird die Objektbasis einer Anwendung verzögert aktualisiert. Eine objektorientierte Anwendung wird auf Grundlage der Systemtheorie als System formal beschrieben. Als Elemente des Systems werden Attribute, Objekte und Objektmengen eingeführt. Die in den Methoden der Objekte implementierten Algorithmen bestimmen die Bindungsrelation des Systems. Auf Grundlage der Graphentheorie wird die Reihenfolge der Aktualisierung der Objektbasis berechnet. ...
Bei der Untersuchung hybrider Strukturen kann eine Kopplung von Modellen unterschiedlicher Modellebenen vorteilhaft sein. Durch selektive Kopplung von Tragwerks- und Querschnittsmodellen in ausgewählten Bereichen der Konstruktion kann z.B. eine Verbesserung der Abbildungsgenauigkeit erzielt werden. Dadurch werden erweiterte Aussagen über das Querschnittstragverhalten in extrem beanspruchten Teilen des Tragwerks bei optionaler Skalierbarkeit des Modellumfangs möglich. Im Beitrag werden ausgewählte Varianten der Modellbildung gegenübergestellt und bewertet. Hierbei werden Aspekte der physikalischen Nichtlinearität von hybriden Konstruktionen insbesondere von Stahlbetonkonstruktionen berücksichtigt. Die Einbeziehung von Verfahren der mathematischen Optimierung in die Berechnungsstrategie ermöglicht die Lösung der zugrunde liegenden nichtlinearen Problemstellungen unter Vorgabe von Bemessungszielen und unter Beachtung von Grenzzustandsbedingungen.
A geometrical inclusion-matrix model for the finite element analysis of concrete at multiple scales
(2003)
This paper introduces a method to generate adequate inclusion-matrix geometries of concrete in two and three dimensions, which are independent of any specific numerical discretization. The article starts with an analysis on shapes of natural aggregates and discusses corresponding mathematical realizations. As a first prototype a two-dimensional generation of a mesoscale model is introduced. Particle size distribution functions are analysed and prepared for simulating an adequate three-dimensional representation of the aggregates within a concrete structure. A sample geometry of a three-dimensional test cube is generated and the finite element analysis of its heterogeneous geometry by a uniform mesh is presented. Concluding, aspects of a multiscale analysis are discussed and possible enhancements are proposed.
We consider an industrial application consisting of the mass minimization of a frame in an injection moulding machine. This frame has to compensate the forces acting on the mould inside the machine and has to fulfill certain critical constraints. The deformation of that frame with constant thickness is described by the plain stress state equations for linear elasticity. If the thickness varies then we use a generalized plain stress state with constant thickness in the coarse grid elements. These direct problems are solved by an adaptive multigrid solver. The mass minimization problem leads to a constrained minimization problem for a non-linear functional which will be solved by some standard optimization algorithm which requires the gradients with respect to design parameters. For the shape optimization problem, we assume that the machine components consist of simple geometrical primitives determined by a few design parameters. Therefore, we calculate the gradient in the shape optimization by means of numerical differentiation which requires the solution of approximately 4 direct problems per design parameter. The adaptive solver guarantees the detection of critical regions automatically, and ensures a good approximation to the exact solution of the direct problem. This rather slow approach can be significantly accelerated by using the adjoint method to express the gradient. It will be combined with a direct implementation of several terms that appear after applying the chain rule to the gradient.
In this paper we revisit the so-called Bergman kernel method (BKM) for solving conformal mapping problems. This method is based on the reproducing property of the Bergman kernel function. The main drawback of this well known technique is that it involves an orthonormalization process and thus is numerically unstable. This difficulty can be, in some cases, overcome by using the Maple system, which makes no use of numeric quadrature. We illustrate this implementation by presenting a numerical example. The construction of reproducing kernel functions is not restricted to real dimension 2. Results concerning the construction of Bergman kernel functions in closed form for special domains in the framework of hypercomplex function theory suggest that BKM can also be extended to mapping problems in higher dimensions, particularly 3-dimensional cases. We describe such a generalized BKM-approach and present numerical examples obtained by the use of specially developed software packages for quaternions.
In ersten Teil des Vortrages wird eine Heuristik zur Approximation der Pareto Menge multikriterielle verallgemeinerter Job-Shop Scheduling-Probleme vorgestellt. Der Algorithmus basiert auf einer genetischen lokale Suche Heuristik. Die Mittelwertbildung der Startzeiten der Vorgänge wurde hierbei als Rekombinationsoperator verwendet. Als lokale Suche wurde ein Threshold Accepting Algorithmus implementiert. Der Algorithmus wurde auf einer großen Menge von Benchmark-Instanzen und den Zielfunktionen Makespan, Tardiness, Lateness und Summe der Fertigstellungszeiten getestet. Die Ergebnisse zu den verschiedenen Zielfunktionen werden vorgestellt. Die vom Algorithmus erzeugte Approximation der Pareto Menge kann eine große Anzahl von Lösungen enthalten. Aus dieser Menge muss der Entscheidungsträger eine Lösung auswählen. Da die Datenmenge schon bei moderaten Problemdimensionen sehr umfangreich wird, stellt dies ein Problem für den Entscheider dar. Deshalb muss die große Menge der Lösungen auf eine überschaubare Anzahl reduziert werden. Bei dieser Reduktion der Lösungen muss die Diversität der verbleibenden Lösungen beachtet werden. Diese Reduzierung wird als Short Listing bezeichnet und im zweiten Teil des Vortrages vorgestellt. Im ersten Schritt des Short Listings werden die Lösungen mittels Abstandsmaßen im Lösungsraum geclustert. Die dazu verwendeten Abstandsmaße werden auf den Permutationen der Vorgänge auf den Ressourcen definiert. Es wurden fünf Abstandsmaße und zwei Clusterverfahren, ein hierarchisches und ein nicht-hierarchisches, untersucht. Im zweiten Schritt wird aus jedem Cluster jeweils eine Lösung ausgewählt und dem Entscheidungsträger vorgelegt. Dabei wurden zwei Methoden untersucht. Im ersten Fall wurde die bezüglich einer Ranking-Funktion beste Lösung und im zweiten Fall die Medianlösung bezüglich des Abstandsmaßes ausgewählt. Die Abstandsmaße, Clusteralgorithmen und Auswahlmethoden wurden auf einer großen Menge von Benchmark-Instanzen verglichen. Die Ergebnisse werden im Vortrag vorgestellt.
Bei der Kopplung unterschiedlicher Bussysteme oder der Anbindung von Geräten an externe Netzwerke (z.B. an das Internet) stellt sich oft heraus, dass für diesen Anwendungszweck grundlegende Sicherheitsmechanismen fehlen. Durch intelligente Zusatzkomponenten, z.B. Residential Gateways, können bestehende Netzwerke erfolgreich miteinander gekoppelt werden, auch wenn sie sehr unterschiedliche Eigenschaften aufweisen. Die erforderlichen Anpassungen, Dienstekonversionen und Protokollumsetzungen können in die Gateways integriert werden, so dass gewohnte Betriebsarten, besonders bei der Konfiguration oder der Diagnose, beibehalten werden können. Bei der Nutzung vorhandener Hausbus-Infrastrukturen für sicherheitsrelevante Zusatzfunktionen wie Zugangskontrollen, Zeiterfassungen oder Alarmanlagen hingegen stellt dieser Ansatz keine Lösung dar, da hier die Sicherheit innerhalb des Systems erhöht werden muss. Daher wird für solche sicherheitsrelevanten Anwendungen oft eine separate Kommunikationsinfrastruktur verwendet, obwohl ein Gebäudebus, z.B. ein EIB-System, zur Verfügung steht. Eine praktikable Lösung stellt hierbei die Verwendung der Standard-Übertragungsmechanismen des EIB dar, bei denen jedoch die eigentlichen Nettodaten verschlüsselt werden. Auf diese Weise kann normaler Datenverkehr mit gesichertem Datenverkehr gemischt werden, wobei natürlich die sicherheitsrelevanten Teilnehmer erweiterte Funktionalitäten wie Ver- und Entschlüsselung aufweisen müssen. Dem Residential Gateway kommt in solchen Systemen neben der Kopplung der internen Netzwerke und deren Anbindung an das Internet auch das intelligente Management der Schlüssel zu. ...
Um die entsprechende Qualität der ÖPNV zu erreichen, sollte man das Verhältnis zwischen der Bedienungsqualität und dem Kostenaufwand analysieren. In den Bedingungen der anwachsenden Konkurenz aus der Seite der PKW und anderen Fuhrunternehmern soll man die Handlungen, die grösste Effektivität gewährleisten, aufnehmen. Es gibt viele Möglichkeiten die diese Qualität verbessern können, wie z.B. steigernde Frequenz der Fahrzeuge, Vergrößerung der Geschwindigkeit, Pünktlichkeit und Regelmäßigkeit, Einführung der Niederfußfahrzeuge und vieles mehr. Ich versuche in meinem Referat die Aspekte zu analysieren, die mit der Frequenz verbunden sind, d.h. die Erhöhung der Frequenz und das Erhalten der konstanten Häufigkeit der Linienbusse. Das Referat umfasst die Modelle und die Beispiele. In Verbindung mit den Untersuchungen, die die Bereitschaft der Bezahlung für die Verbesserung der Qualität betreffen, kann man schon Entscheidungen treffen, die unterschiedlichen Standard der Fahrt bestimmen.
Im Vortrag wird der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit ein Zusammenhang zwischen der Zuverlässigkeit und gewissen strukturellen Parametern eines Verkehrsnetzes besteht. Das Verkehrsnetz wird hierzu als bewerteter Graph aufgefasst. Zur Analyse der Verkehrsnetzzuverlässigkeit werden die Kanten mit ihren Verfügbarkeiten (>Zuverlässigkeiten<) bewertet. Die Zuverlässigkeit des Verkehrsnetzes hat einen großen Einfluss auf die Beurteilung des Straßennetzes. Im Sinne einer Regressionsanalyse soll der Zusammenhang mit weiteren, speziell für die Betrachtung von Verkehrsnetzen entwickelten strukturellen Kenngrößen untersucht werden, das sind insbesondere die Dispersion des Verkehrsnetzes und die Unterentwicklung des Netzes. Aus der Vielzahl der theoretisch denkbaren Verkehrsnetzstrukturen spiegelt die Ring-Radius-Struktur die realen Straßennetze am besten wider. Solche Ring-Radius-Strukturen kommen in vielen Städten vor. Die Berechnung der Verkehrsnetzzuverlässigkeit erfolgt mittels eines Algorithmus, der auf dem Prinzip der vollständigen Enumeration aller möglichen Kombinationen der Verfügbarkeit bzw. Nichtverfügbarkeit der einzelnen Kanten basiert und die gewünschte Kenngröße exakt bestimmt. Obwohl der Algorithmus speziell auf eine möglichst geringe Rechenzeit ausgerichtet ist, bleibt das Verfahren doch numerisch recht aufwendig. An Hand von zehn verschiedenen Ring-Radius-Strukturen wird der Nachweis eines Zusammenhangs zwischen den strukturellen Kenngrößen und der Verkehrsnetzzuverlässigkeit geführt. Damit können mittels struktureller Bewertungen (die mit einem vergleichsweise geringen Aufwand an Input-Daten und Rechenzeit bestimmbar sind) Aussagen über die Zuverlässigkeit des Verkehrsnetzes getroffen werden.
Die Sicherung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit im Bereich des Bauwesens, insbesondere kleinerer und mittelständischer Betriebe erfordert ein aktives Handeln als Antwort auf die sich ändernde Wettbewerbssituation. Einen wesentlichen Wettbewerbsvorteil können kleine unternehmerische Einheiten durch höhere Flexibilität, schnelle Reaktion auf Kundenwünsche oder aktuelle Situationen auf der Baustelle und Marktnähe erreichen. Dazu ist es nötig, die Informations- und Kommunikationsströme durch Einsatz standardisierter und kostengünstiger Hard- und Software wie z.B. Handhelds zu unterstützen und insbesondere die existierenden Hindernisse im Informationsfluss zwischen Baustelle und Büro zu beseitigen. Am Beispiel der Projekte >IuK - SystemBau< und >eSharing< wird eine Einführungsstrategie für >Mobile Computing< in kleinen unternehmerischen Einheiten des Bauwesens (KMU) basierend auf einer umfangreichen Anforderungsanalyse vorgestellt. Folgende Aspekte sollen beschrieben werden: durchgängiger Einsatz der Technik unter Beachtung der verschiedenen Qualifikationsniveaus, Einführungsunterstützung durch Schulungen, Prozessanalyse und mögliche Integration in bestehende Software-Umgebungen sowie Feldtests.
Poland is not situated in any seismic region of the earth, however there are still areas were underground mining is being conducted. In these areas, so-called 'paraseismic tremors', are very frequent phenomena. In the situation when a building examination is realized in order to define its safety, it is necessary to make a complete analysis, in which an influence of tremors should be included. To decide if a building is able to carry out any dynamic loads or not, it is necessary to compute its dynamic characteristics, i.e. natural frequencies. It is not possible using any standard techniques. After diagnosis a building in situ by an expert, computer techniques together with specialized software for dynamic, static, and strength analyses become a suitable tool. In this paper a special attention was paid to a typical twelve-store WGP (Wroclaw Great Plate) prefabricated building, concerning special type of joints. During dynamic actions these joints have a decisive influence on building's behavior. Paraseismic tremors are especially dangerous for these buildings and can be the reason of pre-failure states. It can be difficult and very expensive to prepare laboratory investigations of the part of a building or of a separate joint; therefore the computer modeling suitable to investigate behavior of such elements and whole buildings under different kinds of loads was used.
The vibration control of complicated mechanical structures is impossible without proper mathematical models that allow to have a true apprehension of events occurring in structural member before the starting of the experiment and correct the diagnostic experiment in case of need. An approach that implies using of a discrete model reflecting all required features of a prototype system and permitting of an effective analytical and numerical investigation is proposed in the work. At first a discrete model of a bladed disk with flaw is considered. Taking into account the symmetry of the structure by utilization of mathematical tools of group presentation theory the number of degrees of freedom of the system is diminished. Small damage of the disk is regarded as perturbation of structure symmetry. The distinction of vibration characteristics such as natural frequencies and mode shapes of damaged and undamaged systems is determined theoretically with the help of perturbation theory and can be used as an effective diagnostic criterion of a small-scale damage of the structure. In the second part of the work a non-linear two-mass model of an acoustic emission in a damaged structure is proposed. On basis of the numerical integration of the nonlinear differential equations and expansion of the derived solution into a Fourier series free and forced vibrations of the model are investigated. It is shown that proposed model reflects all characteristic properties of vibrations of damaged structures: reduction of natural frequency, sub- and super-resonances, acoustic effects.
Die digitale Unterstützung der Planungsprozesse ist ein aktueller Forschungs- und Arbeitsschwerpunkt der Professur Informatik in der Architektur (InfAR) und der Juniorprofessur Architekturinformatik der Fakultät Architektur an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Verankert in dem DFG Sonderforschungsbereich 524 >Werkzeuge und Konstruktionen für die Revitalisierung von Bauwerken< werden Konzepte und Prototypen für eine fachlich orientierte Planungsunterstützung entwickelt. Im Rahmen unseres Forschungsschwerpunkt zur digitalen Unterstützung der Planungsprozessen, das folgende Forschungsprojekt namens, >Integrated Planning Support System for Low-Income Housing< (IPSS) konzentriert sich auf die Entwicklung einer Sammlung von computergestützten Werkzeugen, um Benutzer-entworfene Wohnungen zu unterstützen, mittels der integrativen Kombinierung von Information Systems Leistungen, Computer Assisted Designwerkzeugen und online Kommunikationstechniken. Mit diesem Set von integrierten Planungswerkzeugen erwarten wir, Bewohnern von ressourcenmangelnden Gemeinden zu ermöglichen, ihre Wohnungen-Ausdehnung effizient zu planen. In diesem Sinne, ist es auch unser Ziel die räumliche, funktionale und vielleicht auch die konstruktive Qualität Benutzer-entworfener Wohnungen zu verbessern.
In dem interdisziplinären und internationalen Verbundprojekt >2MN - Module für die multimediale netzbasierte Hochschullehre< werden diverse Lehr- und Lernmodule für ingenieur- und informationswissenschaftliche Studiengänge realisiert. Die benötigten Funktionalitäten für die Bereitstellung der verschiedenen Unterrichtsmaterialien sowie für Kommunikation, Betreuung der Kurse oder auch administrative Aufgaben im Netz werden von der in diesem Projekt entwickelten systemunabhängigen Lernplattform ELAT, der >Environment for Learning and Teaching<, zur Verfügung gestellt. Speziell für das Fachgebiet Baustatik werden vom Institut für Mechanik und Statik der Universität der Bundeswehr München einzelne Kapitel nach didaktischen Gesichtspunkten multimedial mit Text, Graphik, Bildern, Animationen und kurzen Videoclips zum systematisch angeleiteten Wissenserwerb aufbereitet. Interaktive Übungen geben Rückmeldung über den individuellen Lernfortschritt des Online-Studenten. Die Förderung der Eigeninitiative der Lernenden spielt dabei ebenso eine wichtige Rolle wie die Berücksichtigung nutzerspezifischer Lernpräferenzen. Einfach zu bedienende Statikprogramme wie der >Drehwinkeltrainer< sollen den angehenden Statikern als Kontroll- und Experimentierumgebung dienen. Das Online-Dictionary >Wörterbuch Bauwesen< erleichtert die Arbeit bei der Übersetzung baustatischer Fachtermini. Weitere Baustatik-Anwendungen, beispielsweise die Stabilitätsberechnung von Stabwerken, die Bestimmung von Querschnittswerten und die Berechnung von Biege- und Einflusslinien mit der Methode, können ortsunabhängig mit einem Pocket-PC genutzt werden.
We present a model derived to describe tunnel fires. The model originates in a compressible description of the air in the tunnel. It takes into account the strong buoyancy forces and at the same time the small Mach-number of the airflow. We comment on the derivation, on analytical results and on numerical simulations of the model. The model has been validated using data from real tunnel fire experiments. It shows good agreement with the real situation.
Der Bauablauf unterliegt vielen Unwägbarkeiten. Von besonderer Bedeutung ist dieses Problem im Umfeld der Revitalisierung von Bauwerken. In weiten Teilen sind die auszuführenden Arbeiten nur schwer im Vorfeld planbar. Die Ursachen hierfür liegen großteils in der Problematik des Bauens im Bestand und dem aus wirtschaftlichen Gründen geringen Umfang von Analysen. Häufig treten verdeckte, im Vorfeld der Baumaßnahme nicht erkannte Schäden auf oder Materialstrukturen und Bauteilqualitäten wurden in der Planung unzureichend berücksichtigt. Alte Ausführungsunterlagen sind oft nicht verfügbar. Viele zur Ausführung bestimmter Arbeiten nötige Informationen fehlen und werden erst zum unmittelbaren Ausführungszeitpunkt bekannt. Einzelne Arbeiten sind nur schwer kalkulierbar bzw. planbar. Sie sind in Art und Umfang zunächst nicht bekannt und müssen gegebenenfalls als neue Vorgänge im Plan berücksichtigt werden. Diese besondere Situation bedarf einer gezielten Berücksichtigung. Die Planung des Bauablaufes muss in einer flexiblen und leicht anpassbaren Art und Weise erfolgen. Im folgenden Beitrag wird ein Ansatz zur Entwicklung eines solchen Prozessmodells vorgestellt, der im Rahmen des SFB 524 >Werkstoffe und Konstruktionen für die Revitalisierung von Bauwerken< an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar untersucht und vorangetrieben wurde und wird. Das vorgestellte Modell kann kurzfristig flexibel auf die realen Gegebenheiten reagieren und ermöglicht trotzdem eine Planung und Steuerung des gesamten Ablaufs. Es enthält nicht wie bisher üblich deterministische Daten in starren Anordnungsbeziehungen. Vielmehr werden die Daten der Prozesse und die Beziehungen der Prozesse untereinander in einer nichtdeterministischen, unscharfen Form modelliert....
The goal of the collaborative research center (SFB 532) >Textile reinforced concrete (TRC): the basis for the development of a new material technology< installed in 1998 at the Aachen University is a complex assessment of mechanical, chemical, economical and productional aspects in an interdisciplinary environment. The research project involves 10 institutes performing parallel research in 17 projects. The coordination of such a research process requires effective software support for information sharing in form of data exchange, data analysis and data archival. Furthermore, the processes of experiment planning and design, modification of material compositions and design parameters and development of new material models in such an environment call for systematic coordination applying the concepts of operational research. Flexible organization of the data coming from several sources is a crucial premise for a transparent accumulation of knowledge and, thus, for a successful research in a long run. The technical information system (TRC-TIS) developed in the SFB 532 has been implemented as a database-powered web server with a transparent definition of the product and process model. It serves as an intranet server with access domains devoted to the involved research groups. At the same time, it allows the presentation of selected results just by granting a data object an access from the public area of the server via internet.
Hyperbolic Qp-scales
(2003)
The Qp-scales were first introduced in [1] as interpolation spaces between the Bloch and Dirichlet spaces in the complex space. ... However, such treatment presents the disadvantage of only considering the Euclidean case. In order to obtain an approach to homogeneous hyperbolic manifolds, the projective model of Gel'fand was retaken in [2]. With the help of a convenient fundamental solution for the hyperbolic (homogeneous of degree ®) D® (see [5]) it was introduced in [7] and [3] equivalent Qp scales for homogeneous hyperbolic spaces. In this talk we shall present and study some properties of this hyperbolic scale.
As it is well known, the approximation theory of complex valued functions is one of the main fields in function theory. In general, several aspects of approximation and interpolation are only well understood by using methods of complex analysis. It seems natural to extend these techniques to higher dimensions by using Clifford Analysis methods or, more specific, in lower dimensions 3 or 4, by using tools of quaternionic analysis. One starting point for such attempts has to be the suitable choice of complete orthonormal function systems that should replace the holomorphic function systems used in the complex case. The aim of our contribuition is the construction of a complete orthonormal system of monogenic polynomials derived from a harmonic function system by using sistematically the generalized quaternionic derivative
Die Bearbeitung von Bauprojekten erfordert ein hohes Maß an Fachwissen verschiedener Disziplinen. Dabei kommt eine Vielzahl spezialisierter Fachmodelle zum Einsatz. Zur Übernahme der Daten von anderen Planern in das eigene, neu zu erstellende Fachmodell sind die verfügbaren Inhalte aus verschiedenen Modellen vom Fachplaner entsprechend seiner Anforderungen anzupassen und um spezifische Inhalte zu ergänzen. Dabei ergeben sich Beziehungen, welche die Zusammenhänge und Abhängigkeiten der Fachmodelle untereinander aufzeigen. Eine zugleich allgemeingültige sowie vollständige Vordefinition des durch die Beziehungen beschriebenen Modellverbundes ist kaum möglich. Zur rechnerinternen Abbildung erfolgt aus diesem Grund eine Zerlegung des Modellverbundes in Partialmodelle und entsprechende Verknüpfungen. Die Beschaffenheit des Beziehungsgeflechtes hängt sowohl von der Qualität der Datenmodelle als auch von der Beschreibungsgüte der Verknüpfungstypen, deren Definition ein hohes Maß an Fachwissen erfordern, ab. Mit einem Konzept zur Strukturierung und Zerlegung der Verbindungen in Basiselemente sowie der Integrationsmöglichkeit zu komplexeren Elementen wird eine einfachere Erstellung, Wartung und Anpassung von umfassenden baufachlichen Inhalten ermöglicht. Zur Sicherung einer hochwertigen Beschreibung des Modellverbundes ist ein an die Fähigkeiten des Ingenieurs ausgerichteter Zugang zur Spezifikation und Anpassung der Beziehungsdefinitionen unverzichtbar.
Iso-parametric finite elements with linear shape functions show in general a too stiff element behavior, called locking. By the investigation of structural parts under bending loading the so-called shear locking appears, because these elements can not reproduce pure bending modes. Many studies dealt with the locking problem and a number of methods to avoid the undesirable effects have been developed. Two well known methods are the >Assumed Natural Strain< (ANS) method and the >Enhanced Assumed Strain< (EAS) method. In this study the EAS method is applied to a four-node plane element with four EAS-parameters. The paper will describe the well-known linear formulation, its extension to nonlinear materials and the modeling of material uncertainties with random fields. For nonlinear material behavior the EAS parameters can not be determined directly. Here the problem is solved by using an internal iteration at the element level, which is much more efficient and stable than the determination via a global iteration. To verify the deterministic element behavior the results of common test examples are presented for linear and nonlinear materials. The modeling of material uncertainties is done by point-discretized random fields. To show the applicability of the element for stochastic finite element calculations Latin Hypercube Sampling was applied to investigate the stochastic hardening behavior of a cantilever beam with nonlinear material. The enhanced linear element can be applied as an alternative to higher-order finite elements where more nodes are necessary. The presented element formulation can be used in a similar manner to improve stochastic linear solid elements.
The conventional way of describing an image is in terms of its canonical pixel-based representation. Other image description techniques are based on image transformations. Such an image transformation converts a canonical image representation into a representation in which specific properties of an image are described more explicitly. In most transformations, images are locally approximated within a window by a linear combination of a number of a priori selected patterns. The coefficients of such a decomposition then provide the desired image representation. The Hermite transform is an image transformation technique introduced by Martens. It uses overlapping Gaussian windows and projects images locally onto a basis of orthogonal polynomials. As the analysis filters needed for the Hermite transform are derivatives of Gaussians, Hermite analysis is in close agreement with the information analysis carried out by the human visual system. In this paper we construct a new higher dimensional Hermite transform within the framework of Quaternionic Analysis. The building blocks for this construction are the Clifford-Hermite polynomials rewritten in terms of Quaternionic analysis. Furthermore, we compare this newly introduced Hermite transform with the Quaternionic-Hermite Continuous Wavelet transform. The Continuous Wavelet transform is a signal analysis technique suitable for non-stationary, inhomogeneous signals for which Fourier analysis is inadequate. Finally the developed three dimensional filter functions of the Quaternionic-Hermite transform are tested with traditional scalar benchmark signals upon their selectivity at detecting pointwise singularities.
On the basis of the little material available (an architecture plan and some photographs) a computer model is developed for a bullet shaped dome, part of the Belgian Congo pavilion, created by the architect Henry Lacoste for the International Colonial Exhibition of 1931 in Paris. The ingenious and elegant wooden skeleton of the dome is approximated in two stages. The first approximation focusses on the curves traced on the dome by the wooden laminae, which appear to be loxodromes, cutting the meridians by a constant angle. In a second approximation the very specific joints of the laminae are taken into consideration. The resulting computer image shows an astonishing resemblance with the photographs. Finally, the shapes and dimensions of all laminae are calculated, enabling a possible reconstruction of the dome.
Die heutige Situation in der Tragwerksplanung ist durch das kooperative Zusammenwirken einer größeren Anzahl von Fachleuten verschiedener Disziplinen (Architektur, Tragwerksplanung, etc.) in zeitlich befristeten Projektgemeinschaften gekennzeichnet. Bei der Abstimmung der hierdurch bedingten komplexen, dynamischen und vernetzten Planungsprozesse kommt es dabei häufig zu Planungsmängeln und Qualitätseinbußen. Dieser Artikel zeigt auf, wie mit Hilfe der Agententechnologie Lösungsansätze zur Verbesserung der Planungssituation erreicht werden können. Hierzu wird ein Agentenmodell für die vernetzt-kooperative Tragwerksplanung vorgestellt und anhand der Planung einer Fußgängerbogenbrücke anschaulich demonstriert. Das Agentenmodell erfasst (1) die beteiligten Fachplaner und Organisationen, (2) die tragwerksspezifischen Planungsprozesse, (3) die zugehörigen (Teil-)Produktmodelle und (4) die genutzte (Ingenieur-)Software. Hieraus leiten sich die drei Teilmodelle (1) agentenbasiertes Kooperationsmodell, (2) agentenbasierte Produktmodellintegration und (3) Modell zur agentenbasierten Software-Integration ab. Der Fokus des Artikels liegt auf der Darstellung des agentenbasierten Kooperationsmodells.
Seit mehr als fünfzig Jahren werden zur Untersuchung der Tragwerkssicherheit auch Methoden der Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung herangezogen. Ungeachtet der inzwischen erreichten Fortschritte und der offensichtlichen Vorzüge, konnte dieses Vorgehen in der Praxis bis jetzt noch nicht ausreichend Fuß fassen. Im Beitrag wird das Problem der Tragwerkssicherheit mit einem neuartigen Verfahren behandelt. Im Unterschied zu den üblichen probabilistischen Methoden geht es nicht von Verteilungsfunktionen aus. Vielmehr werden die maßgebenden Zufallsgrößen in den Mittelpunkt gestellt und direkt in die Rechenvorschrift eingeführt. Als mathematisches Hilfsmittel dienen die WIENERschen Chaos-Polynome. Sie stellen im Raum der Zufallsgrößen mit beschränkter Varianz eine Basis dar, mit der sich eine beliebige Zufallsgröße nach orthogonalen Polynomen GAUSSscher Zufallsgrößen entwickeln läßt. So entsteht ein effektiver Formalismus, der sich eng an die herkömmliche Deformationsmethode anlehnt und als deren probabilistische Verallgemeinerung angesprochen werden darf. Die Methode liefert die Grenzzustandsbedingung als Funktion der auf das Tragwerk wirkenden Zufallsgrößen. Die Versagenswahrscheinlichkeit kann daher durch Monte-Carlo-Simulation bestimmt werden. Die mit der Auswertung des Wahrscheinlichkeitsintegrals der First Order Reliability Method (FORM) verbundenen Schwierigkeiten werden vermieden. An einem Beispieltragwerk wird dargestellt, wie sich Veränderungen gewisser Konstruktionsparameter auf die Versagenswahrscheinlichkeit auswirken.
Maxwell's equations can be rewritten in terms of a Dirac operator D+a. The advantage is that in this setting Maxwell's equations are treated as a system of first order differential equations. To ensure the uniqueness of a non-homogeneous differential equation in the whole space additional conditions are needed.
A realistic and reliable model is an important precondition for the simulation of revitalization tasks and the estimation of system properties of existing buildings. Thereby, the main focus lies on the parameter identification, the optimization strategies and the preparation of experiments. As usual structures are modeled by the finite element method. This as well as other techniques are based on idealizations and empiric material properties. Within one theory the parameters of the model should be approximated by gradually performed experiments and their analysis. This approximation method is performed by solving an optimization problem, which is usually non-convex, of high dimension and possesses a non-differentiable objective function. Therefore we use an optimization procedure based on genetic algorithms which was implemented by using the program package SLang...
In modernen Gebäuden nimmt die Komplexität der Heizungstechnik ständig zu. Damit wird es auch immer schwieriger, ein ökologisch und ökonomisch vernünftiges Zusammenspiel der Komponenten zu gewährleisten. Die Vernetzung der verschiedenen Komponenten eines Heizsystems mittels Netzwerktechnik aus der EDV soll helfen, die Energieeffizienz zu erhöhen. Embedded Systems und Mikrocontroller fungieren als Regler für die Teilsysteme. Durch Kommunikation untereinander sollen sie ihr Regelverhalten aneinander anpassen. Eine Internetanbindung ermöglicht die Nutzung weiterer Informationen für die Betriebsführung. Außerdem kann der Internetanschluss für die Fernwartung der Anlage genutzt werden. Mit kleinen, im Webbrowser eines Rechners ausgeführten Java-Programmen, sogenannten Applets, können die Betriebszustände von Heizsystemen in Echtzeit visualisiert werden. Durch das Aufzeichnen von Betriebsdaten wird deren Analyse ermöglicht.
SYSBAT - An Application to the Building ProductionBased on Computer Supported Cooperative Work
(2003)
Our proposed solution is to enable partners of a construction project to share all the technical data produced and handled during the building production process by building a system through the use of internet technology. The system links distributed databases and allows building partners to access remotely and manipulate specific information. It provides an updated building representation that is being enriched and refined all along the building production process. A recent collaboration with Nemetschek France (subsidiary company of Nemetschek AG, AEC CAD software leader) focus on a building product repository available in a web context. The aim is to help building project actors to choose a technical solution that fits its professional needs, and maintain our information system with up to date information. It starts with the possibility to build on line building product catalogs, in order to link Allplan CAD entities with building technical features. This paper presents the conceptual approaches on which our information system is built. Starting from a general organization diagram organization, we focus on the product and the description branches of construction works (including last IFC model specifications). Our aim is to add decisional support to the construction works selection process. To do so, we consider the actor's role upon the system and the pieces of information each one needs to achieve a given task.
The research of the best building design requires a concerted design approach of both structure and foundation. Our work is an application of this approach. Our objective is also to create an interactive tool, which will be able to define, at the early design stages, the orientations of structure and foundation systems that satisfy as well as possible the client and the architect. If the concerns of these two actors are primarily technical and economical, they also wish to apprehend the environmental and social dimensions of their projects. Thus, this approach bases on alternative studies and on a multi-criterion analysis. In this paper, we present the context of our work, the problem formulation, which allows a concerted design of Structure and Foundation systems and the feasible solutions identifying process.
Wahrnehmung und Verarbeitung von Ereignissen bei der verteilten Planung im baulichen Brandschutz
(2003)
Der Bauplanungsprozess ist durch ein hohes Maß an Kooperation zwischen Planungsbeteiligten verschiedener Fachrichtungen gekennzeichnet. Hierbei werden zum einen Planungen auf der Basis von Planungsinformationen anderer Planungsbeteiligter detailliert, zum anderen geben Planungen einzelner auch wichtige Rahmenbedingungen für die Gesamtplanung vor. Der vorliegende Beitrag beschreibt einen Ansatz zur ganzheitlichen Unterstützungen verteilter Planungen am Beispiel des baulichen Brandschutzes. Der Antrag trägt hierbei der verteilten und parallelen Planung Rechnung, wie sie heute bei der Planung großer und mittlerer Bauwerke angewendet wird. Die Verteiltheit wird nicht nur für die Planungsbeteiligten modelliert, sondern auch die einzelnen Planungsinformationen liegen im gemeinsamen Kooperationsverbund verteilt vor. Der Fokus dieses Beitrags liegt auf der Wahrnehmung von Planungsänderungen und Ereignissen während der Planung und die Verarbeitung dieser Informationen um eine durchgängige Planung zu gewährleisten. Dies wird zum einen durch das CoBE Awarenessmodell erreicht, mit dem Ereignisse erkannt und dem Informationsverbund zur Verfügung gestellt werden können. Zum anderen werden die Ereignisbehandlung und die darauf folgende fachgerechte Informationsverarbeitung mit Hilfe eines Multi-Agentensystems beschrieben.
Mobile Software-Agenten für neuartige Funktionen und Nutzeffekte in intelligenten Gebäudesystemen
(2003)
Anwendungsbezogene Software innerhalb vernetzter Gebäude nimmt immer mehr zu. Neue Standards erlauben den einfachen Fernzugriff, um neue Services zu installieren oder um Updates aufspielen zu können. Zu diesem Thema wird der OSGi-Standard vorgestellt, der ein Management von Software während des Betriebs vornehmen kann. Außerdem nimmt die Netzlast der heterogenen Netze innerhalb und zu den Häusern stetig zu. Hier können mobile Softwareagenten ihre Vorteile gegenüber herkömmlichen, statischen Kommunikationsmechanismen hervorheben. Im folgenden Text wird die Integration solcher mobilen Softwareagenten in bestehende Standards intelligenter Häuser beschrieben und anhand des Innovationszentrum Intelligentes Haus Duisburg (www.inhaus-duisburg.de) beispielhaft erläutert. Nach der Einleitung wird in Kapitel 2 der aktuelle Stand der Technik beschrieben. Dabei wird vor allem auf den OSGi-Standard und die Technik der mobilen Softwareagenten eingegangen. Im Kapitel 3 wird stehen vor allem Voranalysen zur Fernwartung, Optimierungen von Regelungen und die Integration dynamischer Netzteilnehmer im Vordergrund, die durch die beschriebenen Mechanismen erleichtert werden. Im Kapitel 4 werden die Ergebnisse kurz zusammengefaßt und einen Ausblick gegeben.
There exists a big gap between the capabilities of current 3D-CAD applications and their actual usage in practice. Many architects and planners still prefer to draft in 2D because the benefits of 3D modeling are difficult to explain. This presentation offers a basis to view the 3D building model not merely as the source for 2D plan generation. By adding extra dimensions like Time and Cost to the 3D building model it becomes possible to generate dynamic information on building construction progress with regards to used material, resources and cost. These additional benefits are key elements to many planners and contractors and may therefore widen the acceptance of 3D building modeling in general.
In this Paper, we explored the relation between the electricity consumption in residential sector and the automobile energy consumption in transportation sector in accordance with the location of city by employing Geographic Information System (GIS). We found in the study that the electricity consumption per capita has a tendency that is higher in city center and lower in suburbs in Utsunomiya city. It is also noted that there is little difference among total consumption between city center and suburbs, despite the fact that the density of electric appliances tends to increase in a small size house of city center and the amount of automobile energy consumption from residence is lower in city center than in suburbs.
Digital maps are very easily applied as route guide maps. Route guide maps are provided through Web or a mobile phone services, and demand for such services is increasing. However, the production of a route guide map requires a great deal of time. Therefore, it is difficult for general users to make route guide maps. The purpose of the present research is the development of a system that can generate a route guide map using the Digital Map 2500 (Spatial Data Framework) published by the Geographical Survey Institute. This system will not require advanced equipment or expert knowledge. Therefore, anyone can produce route guide maps easily and quickly. By using the Digital Map 2500, the time and cost required in order to generate a map are reduced. Moreover, a useful route guide map can be created by simplifying the map form based on the human cognitive map.
A large-scale computer modeling and simulation method is presented for environmental flows in urban area. Several GIS and CAD data were used for the preparation of shape model and an automatic mesh generation method based on Delaunay method was developed. Parallel finite element method based on domain decomposition method was employed for the numerical simulation of natural phenomena. The present method was applied to the simulation of flood flow and wind flow in urban area. The present method is shown to be a useful planning and design tool for the natural disasters and the change of environments.
The paper introduced the research and application of the highway construction management information integrated system. Explained the development and application of highway survey applet run on mobile telephone supporting Java and the technique of transmitting engineering data by GPRS wireless network technology. And expounded the development and application of highway engineering construction field data collecting software run on Pocket-PC. Recommended the technique of engineering long distance data transmitting based on C/S structure adopting VPN (Virtual Private Networks) technology. Especially expatiated on the research on the platform of highway construction management information integrated system adopting geography information system (GIS) technique, database technique and network technique. And said all to subsystem about bid manage, contract management, engineering design drawing, engineering survey calculation, measure and pay, data processing on engineering experiment, quantity assessing, project plan and progress, engineering document management etc. Besides? proposed highway construction project visual analysis and inquiry system based on Web-GIS; Explained the research and application of highway engineering construction OA based on B/S structure; real-time workflow and information processing such as the management of administration, business and procedure of authorization and information distribution. At last, the author described the prospect of the application of C/S and B/S structure in trade software development in the highway construction management.
Pre-stressed structural elements are widely used in large-span structures. As a rule, they have higher stiffness characteristics. Pre-stressed rods can be applied as girders of different purpose, and as their separate parts, e.g. rods of trusses and frames. Among numerous ways of prestressing the compression of girders, trusses, and frames by tightenings from high-strength materials is under common application.
Research on Establishment of a Standard of Traffic Impact Assessment with Integrated Database System
(2004)
Planning support systems, such as geographical information system (GIS) and traffic flow simulation models, are widely in use in recent urban planning research. In this paper we propose a method to apply traffic impact assessment (TIA) to large-scale, commercial developments. In TIA research we often encounter the problem of increasing amount of data that is necessary for detailed investigation and analysis, as the scale of commercial developments become larger and more complex. As a result, TIA presents two problems. The first problem is the difficulty of data acquisition. The second problem is the reliability of data. As a solution, we developed an integrated database system.
Modeling of Freeway Traffic
(2004)
An integrated modeling of freeway traffic is developed, whose implementation in an uniform computer –aided simulation model facilitate comparative evaluation and systematic coupling of several traffic simulations, traffic controls, traffic measurements and traffic scenarios. The integrated modeling of freeway traffic is a basic mapping of freeway networks, control methods, measurements and different simulations of traffic flow...
Development of Urban Land Use Model to Compare Transit-Oriented and Automobile-Oriented Cities
(2004)
This study is an attempt to develop a simple simulation model that can compare the differences between automobile-oriented and transit-oriented cities, and clarify the difference between city forms by transportation modes. Following a theoretical model development, a series of simulation runs are tried. The model allocates people who commute to CBD from residential zones along a transportation corridor. As a result of many simulation analyses, it is shown that automobiles need much more traffic space in comparison with the transit as is shown by the proposed traffic space ratio both in CBD and along the corridor.
This paper presents an innovative software platform OpenSTEP intended to build advanced distributed integrated systems and to conduct multidisciplinary collaborative projects in both academy and industry. The paper discusses an open system architecture, methodology, component library and CASE toolkit enabling the developers to build a wide range of interoperable applications and systems compliant with STEP and, particularly, with IFC becoming the increasingly important standard for information integration in architecture, engineering and construction.
A wide variety of behavioural models exist in microscopic traffic simulation. Commercial programms often use closed-source policies and are confined to their respective simulation platforms. Open-source approaches mainly focus on distinctive, highly specialized traffic situations. In the scope of this paper, an open-source framework for developing modular, objectoriented simulation systems is presented, capable of simultaneously accommodating different driving models and enabling the user to modify and extend the catalogue of driving behaviours. The existing driving behaviours and the computational implementation of the simulation are being described.
This paper presents the combination of two different parallelization environments, OpenMP and MPI, in one numerical simulation tool. The computation of the system matrices and vectors is parallelized with OpenMP and the solution of the system of equations is done with the MPIbased solver MUMPS. The efficiency of both algorithms is shown on several linear and nonlinear examples using the Finite Element Method and a meshless discretization technique.
Effective knowledge management is increasingly considered as a cornerstone of sustainable business success. Knowledge management systems are strategically valuable for both ensuring consistency and continuous improvement of various aspects such as quality delivery, productivity and competitiveness. The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the construction industry are mostly operating under tighter timeframes, narrower profit margins and more constrained resources. Hence the recently commenced SMILE-SMC (Strategic Management with Information Leveraged Excellece for Small and Medium Contractors) project aims to support the information and knowledge management needs of the small and medium contractors in Hong Kong. This paper presents some snapshots on the SMILE-SMC project, and its conceptualized deliverables with some highlights of recent developments.
Civil engineering decision support systems (construction, building life cycle, refurbishment, total quality management, innovation, etc.) created in Lithuania are described in this paper. The above decision support systems comprise of the following constituent parts: data (database and its management system), models (model base and its management system) and a user interface. Presentation of information in databases may be in conceptual (digital, textual, graphical, photographic, video) and quantitative forms. Quantitative information presented involves criteria systems and subsystems, units of measurement, values and initial weight fully defining the variants provided. The databases were developed providing a multiple criteria analysis of alternatives from economical, infrastructure, technical, technological, qualitative, legislative, social and other perspectives. This information is provided in a user-oriented way. Since the analysis of alternatives is usually performed by taking into account economical, infrastructure, technical, technological, qualitative and other factors, a model-base include models which enable a decision maker to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the variants available and make a proper choice. These systems, related questions and practical case study were analysed the paper.
This paper presents an evaluation system for steel structures of hydroelectric power stations, including hydraulic gates and penstocks, based on Fault Tree Analyasis (FTA) and performance maps. This system consists of fault tree diagrams of FTA, performance maps, design and analysis systems, and engineerin databases. These four modules are integrated by appropriate hyperlinks so that the user of this system can use it easily and seamlessly. A well developed system was applied to some illustrative example cases, and they showed that the developed methodology and system worked well and the users found the system useful and effective for their maintenance tasks at powerstations.
Transport problems, as, for instance, the transport of sediment in hydraulic engineering and the transport of harmful substances through porous media, play an important role in many fields of civil engineering. Other examples include the dissipation of heat or sound as well as the simulation of traffic with macroscopic models. The contribution explains the analysis of the applicability of Voronoi-based finite volume methods for the approximation of solutions of transport problems. A special concern is the discretisation of the transport equation. Current limitations of the method as well as ideas for stabilisation are explained with examples.
Analysis System for Bridge Test (Chinese name abbr.: QLJC) is an application software specially designed for bridge test to analyze the static and dynamic character of bridge structures, calculate efficiency ratio of load test, pick up the results of observation points and so on. In this paper, research content, system design, calculation theory, characteristics and practical application of QLJC is introduced in detail.
The influence of vortex-induces vibrations on vertical tie rods has been proved as a determinant load factor in the lifetime-oriented dimensioning of arched steel bridges. Particularly, the welded connection plates between the suspenders and the arches often exhibit cracks induced primarily rods. In this context, the synchronization of the vortex-shedding to the rod motion in a critical wind velocity range, the so-called lock-in effect, is of essential interest.
The method of the finite elements is an adaptable numerical procedure for interpolation as well as for the numerical approximation of solutions of partial differential equations. The basis of these procedure is the formulation of suitable finite elements and element decompositions of the solution space. Classical finite elements are based on triangles or quadrangles in the two-dimensional space and tetrahedron or hexahedron in the threedimensional space. The use of arbitrary-dimensional convex and non-convex polyhedrons as the geometrical basis of finite elements increases the flexibility of generating finite element decompositions substantially and is sometimes the only way to get a clear decomposition...
In this paper, systematic analyses for the shoring systems installed to support the applied loads during construction are performed on the basis of the numerical approach. On the basis of a rigorous time-dependent analysis, structural behaviors of reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures according to the changes in design variables such as the types of shoring systems, shore stiffness and shore spacing are analyzed and discussed. The time-dependent deformations of concrete such as creep and shrinkage and construction sequences of frame structures are also taken into account to minimize the structural instability and to reach to an improved design of shoring system because these effects may increase the axial forces delivered to the shores. In advance, the influence of the column shortening effect, generally mentioned in a tall building structure, is analyzed. From many parametric studies, it has been finally concluded that the most effective shoring system in RC frame structures is 2S1R (two shores and one reshore) regardless of the changes in design variables.
Development and Analysis of Sparse Matrix Concepts for Finite Element Approximation on general Cells
(2004)
In engineering and computing, the finite element approximation is one of the most well-known computational solution techniques. It is a great tool to find solutions for mechanic, fluid mechanic and ecological problems. Whoever works with the finite element method will need to solve a large system of linear equations. There are different ways to find a solution. One way is to use a matrix decomposition technique such as LU or QR. The other possibility is to use an iterative solution algorithm like Conjugate Gradients, Gauß-Seidel, Multigrid Methods, etc. This paper will focus on iterative solvers and the needed storage techniques...
The paper investigates accuracy of deflection predictions made by the finite element package ATENA and design code methods ACI and EC2. Deflections have been calculated for a large number of experimental reinforced concrete beams reported by three investigators. Statistical parameters have been established for each of the technique at different load levels, separately for the beams with small and moderate reinforcement ratio.
Creation of hierarchical sequence of the plastic and viscoplastic models according to different levels of structure approximations is considered. Developed strategy of multimodel analysis, which consists of creation of the inelastic models library, determination of selection criteria system and caring out of multivariant sequential clarifying computations, is described. Application of the multimodel approach in numerical computations has demonstrated possibility of reliable prediction of stress-strain response under wide variety of combined nonproportional loading.
Framed-tube system with multiple internal tubes is analysed using an orthotropic box beam analogy approach in which each tube is individually modelled by a box beam that accounts for the flexural and shear deformations, as well as the shear-lag effects. A simple numerical modeling technique is proposed for estimating the shear-lag phenomenon in tube structures with multiple internal tubes. The proposed method idealizes the framed-tube structures with multiple internal tubes as equivalent multiple tubes, each composed of four equivalent orthotropic plate panels. The numerical analysis is based on the minimum potential energy principle in conjunction with the variational approach. The shear-lag phenomenon of such structures is studied taking into account the additional bending moments in the tubes. A detailed work is carried out through the numerical analysis of the additional bending moment. The moment factor is further introduced to identify the shear lag phenomenon along with the additional moment.
The displacements and stresses in arch dams and their abutments are frequently determined with 20-node brick elements. The elements are distorted near the contact plane between the wall and the abutment. A cantilever beam testbed has been developed to investigate the consequences of this distortion. It is shown that the deterioration of the accuracy in the computed stresses is significant. A compatible 18-node wedge element with linear stress variation is developed as an alternative to the brick element. The shape of this element type is readily adapted to the shape of the contact plane. It is shown that the accuracy of the computed stresses in the vicinity of the contact plane is improved significantly by the use of wedge elements.
The primary objective of initial shape analysis of a cable stayed bridge is to calculate initial installation cable tension forces and to evaluate fabrication camber of main span and pylon providing the final longitudinal profile of the bridge at the end of construction. In addition, the initial cable forces depending on the alternation of the bridge’s shape can be obtained from the analysis, and will be used to provide construction safety during construction. In this research, we conducted numerical experiments for initial shape of Ko-ha bridge, which will be constructed in the near future, using three different typical methods such as continuous beam method, linear truss method, and IIMF (Introducing Initial Member Force) method
The paper presents a general map-based approach to prototyping of products in virtual reality environments. Virtual prototyping of products is considered as a consistent simulation and visualization process mapping the source product model into its target visual representations. The approach enables to interrelate formally the product and visual information models with each other by defining mapping rules, to specify a prototyping scenario as a composition of map instances, and then to explore particular product models in virtual reality environments by interpreting the composed scenario. Having been realized, the proposed approach provides for the strongly formalized method and the common software framework to build virtual prototyping applications. As a result, the applications gain in expressiveness, reusability and reliability, as well as take on additional runtime flexibility...
In this paper we present a computer aided method supporting co-operation between different project partners, such as architects and engineers, on the basis of strictly three-dimensional models. The center of our software architecture is a product model, described by the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) of the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI). From this a geometrical model is extracted and automatically transferred to a computational model serving as a basis for various simulation tasks. In this paper the focus is set on the advantage of the fully three-dimensional structural analysis performed by p-version of the finite element analysis. Other simulation methods are discussed in a separate contribution of this Volume (Treeck 2004). The validity of this approach will be shown in a complex example.
In current AEC practice client requirements are typically recorded in a building program, which, depending on the building type, covers various aspects from the overall goals, activities and spatial needs to very detailed material and condition requirements. This documentation is used as the starting point of the design process, but as the design progresses, it is usually left aside and changes are made incrementally based on the previous design solution. These incremental small changes can lead to a solution that may no longer meet the original requirements. In addition, design is by nature an iterative process and the proposed solutions often also cause evolution in the client requirements. However, the requirements documentation is usually not updated accordingly. Finding the latest updates and evolution of the requirements from the documentation is very difficult, if not impossible. This process can lead to an end result, which is significantly different from the documented requirements. Some important requirements may not be satisfied, and even if the design process was based on agreed-upon changes in the scope and requirements, differences in the requirements documents and in the completed building can lead to well-justified doubts about the quality of the design and construction process...
The complexity of the relationships between the actors of a building project requires high efficiency in communication. Among other things, data sharing is crucial. The exchange of data is made possible by interfaces between expert programs, which rely on product models. The latter are neutral standards with formal definitions of building objects and their attributes. This paper deals with the state of the art and the research activities concerning product models in the steel construction domain and the advantages provided by this technology for the sector.
The goal of the research is to increase the understanding of dynamic behaviors during the crane operation, and develops computer-aided methods to improve the training of crane operators. There are approximately 125,000 cranes in operation today in the construction industry, responsible for major portion of erection activities. Unfortunately, many accidents occur every year in the U.S. and other countries related to the operation of cranes in construction sites. For example on November 28, 1989 a tower crane collapse during the construction of a building in San Francisco killing four construction workers, one civilian and injuring 28. According to the statistics from Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA), there were 137 crane-related fatalities from 1992 to 2001 in the US. A well-known internet website that keeps track of crane-related accidents (craneaccidents.com), reports 516 accidents and 277 fatalities from 2000 to 2002. These statistics show that even though many measures have been taken to decrease the number of crane-related accidents (Braam, 2002), the number of crane related accidents is still very large. It is important to recognize that each construction related fatality is not only a great human loss but also increases the costs of insurance, lawsuits, and the construction budget due to delay of a project (Paulson 1992)...
Physically Based Modeling and Multi-Physical Simulation System for Wood Structure Fire Performance
(2004)
This research is devoted to promoting the performance-based engineering in wood structure fire. It looks into the characteristic of the material, structural composing and collapse detecting to find out the main factors in the wood structure collapse in fire. The aim of the research is to provide an automatic simulation platform for the complicated circulation. A physically based model for slim member for beams and columns and a frame of multi-physical simulation are provided to implement the system. The physically based model contains material model, structural mechanics model, material mechanics model, as well as geometry model for the compositive simulation. The multi-physical simulation is built on the model and has the capacity to carry out a simulation combining structural, fire (thermal, CFD) and material degradation simulation. The structural and fire simulation rely on two sophisticated software respectively, ANSYS (an FEA software) and FDS (with a core of CFD). Researchers of the paper develop system by themselves to combine the two existing ones. The system has the capability to calculate the wood char to find out the loss of cross-section and to detect the collapse caused in different ways. The paper gives a sample of Chinese traditional house to show how this simulation system works.
Particle Simulation and Evaluation of Personal Exposure to Contaminant Sources in an Elevation Space
(2004)
An elevator, which figures a small volume, is normally used by everyone for a short period of time and equipped with simple ventilation system..Any contaminant released within it may cause serious problem. This research adapt a fire and smoke simulation software (FDS) into non-fire indoor airflow scario. Differently from previous research, particles are chosen as a risk evalution unit. A personal and multi-personal exposure model is proposed. The model takes the influence of the human thermal boundary, coughing, inhalation, exhalation, standing position, and the fan factor into account. The model is easy-to-use and suitable for the design of elevator system in practice.
The presented work focuses on the presentation of a discrete event simulator which can be used for automated sequencing and optimization of building processes. The sequencing is based on the commonly used component–activity–resource relations taking structural and process constraints into account. For the optimization a genetic algorithm approach was developed, implemented and successfully applied to several real life steel constructions. In this contribution we discuss the application of the discrete event simulator including its optimization capabilities on a 4D process model of a steel structure of an automobile recycling facility.
Buildings require both for construction and, due to their comparatively long life cycle for maintenance, significant raw material and energy resources. So far available knowledge about resource consumption during an entire life cycle of a building is still quite rare, because various criteria affect each other and/or overlay mutually. In this contribution a model based software concept is presented using an integrated approach for life cycle simulation and assessment of buildings. The essential point of the development consists of connecting an IFC compliant product model of a building via the Internet with data bases for the resource and energy requirement of building materials. Furthermore, numerical simulations allow calculating and minimizing the energy consumption, the resource requirement, the waste streams and also the noxious emissions. In the context of this paper we present the first release of software programs for architects and engineers, which help them to evaluate their design decisions objectively in early planning steps. Additionally the usage of the software is demonstrated by a test case study for a real world building. By applying this software in practice a substantial contribution for saving energy and natural resources can be provided in the sense of sustainable and ecological building design.
The highway product model based on the length information of the centerline, and the application system is developed. This paper shows the schema and the modeling process of the product model, which includes geometric elements such as an alignment, lanes, sidewalks, shoulders and sprits, and accessories such as guard fences, plantings and signs. Furthermore, The Highway Sequence Editor (HSE) is developed as an application system to verify the model.
Current building product models explicitly represent components, attributes of components, and relationships between components. These designer-focused product models, however, do not represent many of the design conditions that are important for construction, such as component similarity, uniformity, and penetrations. Current design and construction tools offer limited support for detecting these construction-specific design conditions. This paper describes the ontology we developed using the manufacturing concept of features to represent the design conditions that are important for construction. The feature ontology provides the blueprint for the additions and changes needed to transform a standard product model into a constructionspecific product model. The ontology formalizes three classes of features, defines the attributes and functions of each feature type, and represents the relationships between features explicitly. The descriptive semantics of the ontology allows practitioners to represent their varied preferences for naming features, specifying features that result from component intersections and the similarity of components, and grouping features that affect a specific construction domain. A software prototype that implements the ontology enables practitioners to transform designer-focused product models into feature-based product models that represent the construction perspective.
The goal of the research is the development of a computer system to plan, simulate and visualize erection processes in construction. In the research construction cranes are treated as robots with predefined degrees of freedom and crane-specific motion planning techniques are developed to generate time-optimized and collision-free paths for each piece to be erected in the project. Using inverse kinematics and structural dynamics simulation, the computer system then computes the crane motions and velocities necessary to achieve the previously calculated paths. The main benefits of the research are the accurate planning and scheduling of crane operations leading to optimization of crane usage and project schedules, as well as improving overall crane safety in the project. This research is aimed at the development of systems that will allow computer-assisted erection of civil infrastructure and ultimately to achieve fully-automated erection processes using robotic cranes...
Individual views on a building product of people involved in the design process imply different models for planning and calculation. In order to interpret these geometrical, topological and semantical data of a building model we identify a structural component graph, a graph of room faces, a room graph and a relational object graph as aids and we explain algorithms to derive these relations. The application of the technique presented is demonstrated by the analysis and discretization of a sample model in the scope of building energy simulation.
This paper presents an application of dynamic decision making under uncertainty in planning and estimating underground construction. The application of the proposed methodology is illustrated by its application to an actual tunneling project—The Hanging Lake Tunnel Project in Colorado, USA. To encompass the typical risks in underground construction, tunneling decisions are structured as a risk-sensitive Markov decision process that reflects the decision process faced by a contractor in each tunneling round. This decision process consists of five basic components: (1) decision stages (locations), (2) system states (ground classes and tunneling methods), (3) alternatives (tunneling methods), (4) ground class transition probabilities, and (5) tunneling cost structure. The paper also presents concepts related to risk preference that are necessary to model the contractor’s risk attitude, including the lottery concept, utility theory, and the delta property. The optimality equation is formulated, the model components are defined, and the model is solved by stochastic dynamic programming. The main results are the optimal construction plans and risk-adjusted project costs, both of which reflect the dynamics of subsurface construction, the uncertainty about geologic variability as a function of available information, and the contractor’s risk preference.
Recently, many reseraches on active control systems of building structures are preformed based on modern control theory and are installed real buildings. The authors have already proposed intelligent fuzzy optimal active control (IFOAC) systems. IFOAC systems imitate intelligent activities of human brains such as prediction, adaptation, decision-kaking and so on. In IFOAC systems, objective and subjective judgements on the active control can be taken into account. However, IFOAC systems are considered to be suitable for far-field erathquake and control effect becomes small in case of near-field earthqaukes which include a few velosity pules with large amplitudes. To improve control effect in case of near-souece earthquakes, the authors have also proposed hybrid control (HC) systems, in which IFOAC systems and fuzzy control system are combined. In HC systems, the fuzzy control systems are introduced as a reflective fuzzy active control (RFAC) system and imitates spinal reflection of human. In HC systems, active control forces are activated to buildings in accordance with switching rules on active control forces. In this paper, optimizations on fuzzy control rules in RFAC system and switching rules of active control forces in HC system are performed by Parameter-Free Genetic Algorithms (PfGAs). Here, the optimization is performed by using different earthquake inputs. The results of digital simulations show that the HC system can reduce maximal response displacements under restrictions on strokes of the actuator effectively in case of a near-source earthquake and the effectiveness of the proposed HC system is discussed and clarified.
The processes in the life cycle of buildings are characterised by highly distinct teamwork. The integration of all the distributed working participants, by providing an environment, which especially supports the communication and collaboration between the actors, is a fundamental step to improve the efficiency of the involved processes and to reduce the total costs. In this article, a link based modelling approach and its “intelligent” link management is introduced (1). This approach realises an integration environment based on a special building model that acts as a decision support system. The link-based modelling is characterised by the definition and specialisation of links between partial models. These intelligent managed links enable a very flexible and task specific data access and exchange between all the different views and partial models of the participants.
In this research project we intend to transfer the whole AEC-Bidding process to an agent-based virtual marketplace. Hereby, the existing legal regulations have to be considered. Important aspects in developing the virtual marketplace are to provide the possibility to realize an agentbased bidding consortium as well as to integrate subcontractors.
Integrated structural engineering system usually consists of large number of design objects that may be distributed across different platforms. These design objects need to communicate data and information among each other. For efficient communication among design objects a common communication protocol need to be defined. This paper presents the elements of a communication protocol that uses a mediator agent to facilitate communication among design objects. This protocol is termed the Mediative Communication Protocol (MCP). The protocol uses certain design communication performatives and the semantics of an Agent Communication language (ACL) mainly the Knowledge and Query Manipulation Language (KQML) to implement its steps. Details of a Mediator Agent, that will facilitate the communication among design objects, is presented. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is used to present the Meditative protocol and show how the mediator agent can be use to execute the steps of the meditative communication protocol. An example from structural engineering application is presented to demonstrate and validate the protocol. It is concluded that the meditative protocol is a viable protocol to facilitate object-to-object communication and also has potential to facilitate communication among the different project participants at the higher level of integrated structural engineering systems.
This paper presents results of a study on distributed, or parallel, evolutionary computation in the topological design of steel structural systems in tall buildings. It describes results of extensive experimental research on various parallel evolutionary architectures applied to a complex structural design problem. The experiments were conducted using Inventor 2003, a networkbased evolutionary design support tool developed at George Mason University. First, a general introduction to evolutionary computation is provided with an emphasis on recent developments in parallel evolutionary architectures. Next, a discussion of conceptual design of steel structural systems in tall buildings is presented. Further, Inventor 2003 is briefly introduced as well as its design representation and evolutionary computation characteristics. Next, the results obtained from systematic design experiments conducted with Inventor 2003 are discussed. The objective of these experiments was to qualitatively and quantitatively investigate evolution of steel structural systems in tall buildings during a distributed evolutionary design process as well as to compare efficiency and effectiveness of various parallel evolutionary architectures with the traditional evolutionary design approaches. Two connectivity topologies (ring topology and fully-connected topology) have been investigated for four populations of structural designs evolving in parallel and using various migration strategies. Also, results of the initial sensitivity studies are reported in which two ways of initializing distributed evolutionary design processes were investigated, using either arbitrarily selected designs as initial parents or randomly generated ones. Finally, initial research conclusions are presented.
Change management has been the focus of different IT systems. These IT systems were developed to represent design information, record design rationale, facilitate design coordination and changes. They are largely based on managing reactive changes, particularly design changes, in which changes are recorded and then propagated to the relevant project members. However, proactive changes are hardly dealt with in IT systems. Proactive changes require estimating the likelihood of occurrence of a change event as well as estimating the degree of change impacts on project parameters. Changes in construction projects often result from the uncertainty associated with the imprecise and vague knowledge of much project information at the early stages of projects. This is a major outcome of the case studies carried out as part of this research. Therefore, the proposed model considers that incomplete knowledge and certain project characteristics are always behind change causes. For proactive changes, predicting a change event is the main task for modelling. The prediction model should strive to integrate these main elements: 1) project characteristics that lead to change 2) causes of change, 3) the likelihood of change occurrence, and 4) the change consequences. It should also define the dependency relationships between these elements. However, limited data (documented) are only available from previous projects for change cases and many of the above elements can only be expressed in linguistic terms. This means that the model will simulate the uncertainty and subjectivity associated with these sets of elements. Therefore, a fuzzy model is proposed in this research to capture these elements. The model analyses the impact of each set of elements on the other by assigning fuzzy values for these elements that express the uncertainty and subjectivity of their impact. The main aim is to predict change events and evaluate change effects on project parameters. The fuzzy model described above was developed in an IT system for operational purposes and was designed as a Java package of components with their supporting classes, beans, and files. This paper describes the development and the architecture of the proposed IT system to achieve these requirements. The system is intended to help project teams in dealing with change causes and then the change consequences in construction projects.
Many construction and facilities management Web sites can be found on the Internet. The interested parties on construction and facilities management Web sites can find databases of best practices, calculators, analyzers, software, expert and decision support systems, neural networks, etc. Technological innovation mainly through changes in the availability of information and communication technology inclusive databases of best practices, calculators, analyzers, software, neural networks, decision support and expert systems that have been provided by a variety of new services developed by the construction and facilities management sectors. Most of all calculators, analyzers, software, decision support and expert systems, neural networks and on-line systems seek to find out how to make the most economic decisions and most of all these decisions are intended only for economic objectives. Alternatives under evaluation have to be evaluated not only from the economic position, but take into consideration qualitative, technical, technological and other characteristics as well. Based on the analysis of the existing calculators, analyzers, information, expert and decision support systems, neural networks and in order to determine most efficient versions of best practices a Decision Support Web-Based System for Construction Innovation (IDSS) was developed by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.
This paper presents an agent-based software, Virtual Administrator System (VAS) for the smallscale maintenance of school buildings. VAS is capable of handling a heavy load of routine, lowtech maintenance jobs. It assigns a different priority to each job application according to its significance and urgency, and automatically adjusts schedules for maintenance engineers when on-site supervision is needed. The system can help ease off the burden of routine small-scale maintenance work, making it more cost-effective and efficient in the overall management of school building maintenance. VAS posts jobs on the Web in a multi-media format and classified all applications into four categories: the on-call maintenance contract, the term maintenance contract, the guaranty maintenance contract, and the regular maintenance contract. It then estimates their urgency level and passes the information to maintenance engineers who will decide whether on-site inspection is needed. Based on the engineers’ feedback, VAS automatically implements the scheduling for inspection as well as sends out real-time or batch notifications to contractors. All these activities are recorded in a database to allow continuous research and data mining and the analysis and diagnosis of specific jobs for followup maintenance plans.
Expert systems integrating fuzzy reasoning techniques represent a powerful tool to support practicing engineers during the early stages of structural design. In this context fuzzy models have proved themselves to be very suitable for the representation of complex design knowledge. However their definition is a laborious task. This paper introduces an approach for the design and the optimization of fuzzy systems based upon Genetic Programming. To keep the emerging fuzzy systems transparent a new framework for the definition of linguistic variables is also introduced.
This paper presents a new design environment based on Multi-Agents and Virtual Reality (VR). In this research, a design system with a virtual reality function was developed. The virtual world was realized by using GL4Java, liquid crystal shutter glasses, sensor systems, etc. And the Multi-Agent CAD system with product models, which had been developed before, was integrated with the VR design system. A prototype system was developed for highway steel plate girder bridges, and was applied to a design problem. The application verified the effectiveness of the developed system.
A Multi-objective Model for Optimizing Construction Planning of Repetitive Infrastructure Projects
(2004)
This paper presents the development of a model for optimizing resource utilization in repetitive infrastructure projects. The model provides the capability of simultaneous minimization of both project duration and work interruptions for construction crews. The model provides in a single run, a set of nondominated solutions that represent the tradeoff between these two objectives. The model incorporates a multiobjective genetic algorithm and scheduling algorithm. The model initially generates a randomly selected set of solutions that evolves to a near optimal set of tradeoff solutions in subsequent generations. Each solution represents a unique scheduling solution that is associated with certain project duration and a number of interruption days for utilized construction crews. As such, the model provides project planners with alternative schedules along with their expected duration and resource utilization efficiency.
A comprehensive framework of information management system for construction projects in China has been established through extensive literature survey and field investigation. It utilizes the potential information technologies and covers the practical management patterns as well as the major aspects of construction project management. It can be used to guide and evaluate the design of the information management systems for construction projects in order to make the system to be applicable to a wide variety of construction projects and survive the changes in project management.
The Priority Programme ‘Network Based Co-operation in Structural Engineering’ of the ‘German Research Foundation’ (DFG) has been established in the year 2000. This paper describes and discusses the main research directions and first results of the workgroup ‘Distributed Product Models’. The five projects of the workgroup have developed completely different solutions for specific application domains. Each solution concept deals with a consistent product modeling and knowledge processing in a distributed environment in the planning process. The individual solution approaches of the projects are described and the underlying basic assumptions are discussed. A unified system architecture is described for all projects of the workgroup. Two different approaches (object-oriented and graph-based models) have been introduced for product and knowledge modeling. The common structure of these models will be explained to fully understand the differences of these modeling approaches. Finally the concepts for co-operative work and conflict management in a distributed environment are described: The solution approaches will be distinguished by classifying the supported co-operation according to time. A final scientific summary describes the state-of-the-art in network based co-operation in structural engineering: The role of research directions like knowledge modeling, standard product modeling and versioning in the distributed planning process will be explained.
Today’s building industry not only demands more and more reduced construction time on building site, but also an advanced and mostly construction attendant design phase. Even though there is software available to support design processes in distributed environments, most applications only support simple document based exchange of information. In this paper a knowledge based system is presented to support cooperative, comprehensive design processes in distributed environments. The presented research project is financially supported by the German Research Community (DFG – Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).
In our project, we develop new tools for the conceptual design phase. During conceptual design, the coarse functionality and organization of a building is more important than a detailed worked out construction. We identify two roles, first the knowledge engineer who is responsible for knowledge definition and maintenance; second the architect who elaborates the conceptual design. The tool for the knowledge engineer is based on graph technology, it is specified using PROGRES and the UPGRADE framework. The tools for the architect are integrated to the industrial CAD tool ArchiCAD. Consistency between knowledge and conceptual design is ensured by the constraint checker, another extension to ArchiCAD.
Current disaster management procedures rely primarily on heuristics which result in their strategies being very cautious and sub-optimum in terms of saving life, minimising damage and returning the building to its normal function. Also effective disaster management demands decentralized, dynamic, flexible, short term and across domain resource sharing, which is not well supported by existing distributing computing infrastructres. The paper proposes a conceptual framework for emergency management in the built environment, using Semantic Grid as an integrating platform for different technologies. The framework supports a distributed network of specialists in built environment, including structural engineers, building technologists, decision analysts etc. It brings together the necessary technology threads, including the Semantic Web (to provide a framework for shared definitions of terms, resources and relationships), Web Services (to provide dynamic discovery and integration) and Grid Computing (for enhanced computational power, high speed access, collaboration and security control) to support rapid formation of virtual teams for disaster management. The proposed framework also make an extensive use of modelling and simulation (both numerical and using visualisations), data mining (to find resources in legacy data sets) and visualisation. It also include a variety of hardware instruments with access to real time data. Furthermore the whole framework is centred on collaborative working by the virtual team. Although focus of this paper is on disaster management, many aspects of the discussed Grid and Visualisation technologies will be useful for any other forms of collaboration. Conclusions are drawn about the possible future impact on the built environment.
Many problems related to data integration in AEC can be better tackled by an approach that takes into account the heterogeneity of tasks, models and applications but does not require continuous consistency of the evolving design data, at each data management operation. Such an approach must incorporate adequate services that can facilitate reintegration of concurrently modified data at reasonably selected coordination points. In this paper we present a set of methods which, used in combination, can achieve that goal. After a description of the principal envisaged cooperative work scenario each of these methods is discussed in detail and current observations drawn from their software realisation are given. Whilst the suggested approach is valid for any EXPRESS-based data model, the practical focus of work has been on facilitating IFC-driven integration.
An architecture of a distributed planning system for the building industry has been developed. The emphasis is on highly collaborative environments in steelwork, timber construction etc. where designers concurrently handle 3D models. The overall system connects local design systems by the so-called Design Framework DFW. This framework consists of the definition of distributed components and protocols which make the collaborative design work. The process of collaborative design has been formalized on an abstract level. This paper describes how this has been done. A sample is given to illustrate the mapping of concrete scenarios of the ‘real design world’ to an abstract scenario level. This work is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG as part of the project SPP1103 (Meißner et al. 2003).
The paper summarizes a part of research carried out in ICCI project and provides a current review of ICT infrastructures supporting collaboration. It covers taxonomies, protocols, standards, components, typical subsystems as well as future trends and recommendation for two most important technologies with applications in AEC: (1) EIP (Enterprise information portal) – a single gateway to a company's information, knowledge base, and applications for all actors; (2) RTC (Real-Time Communication and Collaboration technologies) that provide means for asynchronous communication between geographically dislocated people using ICT. Proposed future developments are: orientation towards web services - with building information models, business intelligence, personalization, AEC information retrieval, p2p workspaces and grids.
The synchronous distributed processing of common source code in the software development process is supported by well proven methods. The planning process has similarities with the software development process. However, there are no consistent and similarly successful methods for applications in construction projects. A new approach is proposed in this contribution.
Efforts to define standards for representing AEC/FM data have been fairly successful. However defining a standard reference process model has not met with the same success. Yet almost every conceptual modelling or software development project starts by defining the business processes to be supported and the related requirements to be satisfied. This paper describes a new process-centred methodology for user requirements capture developed in the ICCI project (IST-2001-33022). Its essence is in recognising user requirements and use cases in the context of the real construction process, identifying the actors and roles for each individual activity and associating these activities with information, communication and standardisation requirements on the basis of a formalised specification, named the Process Matrix. In the paper we outline the history of process matrix development, introduce the basic structure of the matrix and show how it can be further extended and refined. We present also a web-based software implementation of the developed approach, describe how it has been used in ICCI and outline further perspectives.
Organisational and human issues have been highlighted, among other issues (ICT infrastructures, legal and contractual, etc.), as key elements in enhancing the competitiveness of the construction sector. More specifically, the importance of human resources has been recognised, especially training and professional development, in order to cultivate a stable workforce. The paper provides a review of the key training needs for the construction sector with particular reference to the uptake and exploitation of new technologies and working practices, presents an action plan to address learning and training needs, and proposes an eight-stage iterative learning and training methodology. The results will be of particular interest to managers in stakeholder organisations of all sizes throughout the sector, plus academic and research bodies intending to continue construction ICT research.
The construction industry is a project-based business bringing together many different organisations to complete a desired goal. The strategic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has enabled this goal to be completed more effectively. Two issues require addressing, the technology itself and the implementation factors of the technology. Such implementation factors should consider, among other factors, the legal and contractual issues associated with the use of ICT, training requirements and its effects on the organisational culture. To date the legal and contractual issues have not been extensively covered, and it is recognised that the technologies have not been properly covered by any recognised legal and contractual practices. This in turn is threatening to inhibit the growth and prosperity of the use of the technology on construction projects. This paper discusses these legal and contractual issues and describes methods and tools that can be used to enable the growth of technology to be used in a legal and contractually valid environment.