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The promise of lower costs for sensors that can be used for construction inspection means that inspectors will continue to have new choices to consider in creating inspection plans. However, these emerging inspection methods can require different activities, resources, and decisions such that it can be difficult to compare the emerging methods with other methods that satisfy the same inspection needs. Furthermore, the context in which inspection is performed can significantly influence how well certain inspection methods are suited for a given set of goals for inspection. Context information, such as weather, security, and the regulatory environment, can be used to understand what information about a component should be collected and how an inspection should be performed. The research described in this paper is aimed at developing an approach for comparing and selecting inspection plans. This approach consists of (1) refinement of given goals for inspection, if necessary, in order to address any additional information needs due to a given context and in order to reach a level of detail that can be addressed by an inspection activity; (2) development of constraints to describe how an inspection should be achieved; (3) matching of goals to available inspection methods, and generation of activities and resource plans in order to address the goals; and (4) selection of an inspection plan from among the possible plans that have been identified. The authors illustrate this approach with observations made at a local construction site.
This paper is a report of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and its potential applications in the commercial construction industry. RFID technology offers wireless communication between RFID tags and readers with non line-of-sight readability. These fundamental properties eliminate manual data entry and introduce the potential for automated processes to increase project productivity, construction safety, and project cost efficiency. Construction contractors, owners, and material suppliers that believe technology can further develop methods and processes in construction should feel obligated to participate in RFID studies for the advancement of the construction industry as a whole.
We describe the database requirements of SEED (Software Environment to Support the Early Phases in Building Design). The requirements are typical for a database that intends to support a heterogeneous design support environment consisting of independent software modules with diverse internal design models, requirements not met by any commercial database system. The design and implementation of this database is an integral part of the overall software engineering effort. We describe the SEED approach that integrates external and in-house software based on a shared information model specified in the modeling language SPROUT, which allows for the specification of domains, and classes, relationship types and their behavior, and multiple classifications. The SPROUT run-time system organizes and coordinates the communication between the software modules and the database
The worldwide growth of communication networks and associated technologies provide the basic infrastructure for new ways of executing the engineering process. Collaboration amongst team members seperated in time and location is of particular importance. Two broad themes can be recognized in research pertaining to distributed collaboration. One theme focusses on the technical and technological aspects of distributed work, while the other emphasises human aspects thereof. The case of finite element structural analysis in a distributed collaboratory is examined in this paper. An approach is taken which has its roots in human aspects of the structural analysis task. Based on experience of how structural engineers currently approach and execute this task while utilising standard software designed for use on local workstations only, criteria are stated for a software architechture that could support collaborative structural analysis. Aspects of a pilot application and the results of qualitative performance measurements are discussed.
A technique for using object-oriented technologies to write structural analysis software has been developed. The structural design information of an individual building is stored in an object-oriented database. A global database provides general design values as material data and safety factors. A class library for load elements has been evolved to model the transfer of loads in a building. This class library is the basis for the development of further classes for other structural elements such as beams, columns or slabs. A software has been developed to monitor the forces transferred from one structural member to another in a building for load cases and combinations according to Eurocode 1. The results of the analysis are stored in the projects database from which a structural design report may be generated. The software was developed under Microsoft Visual C++. The Microsoft Foundation Class Library (MFC) was used to program the Graphical User Interface (GUI). Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technology is useful to include any type of OLE server objects for example texts written with a word processor or CAD drawings in the structural design report. The Object-Oriented Database Management System (OODBMS) ObjectStore provides services to store the large amount of objects.
For many purposes geometric information about existing buildings is necessary, e.g. planing of conservation or reconstruction. Architectural photogrammetry is a technique to acquire 3D geometric data of buildings for a CAD model from images. In this paper the state of the art in architectural photogrammetry and some developments towards automation are described. The photogrammetric process consists of image acquisition, orientation and restitution. Special attention is put on digital methods, from digital image acquisition to restitution methods, supported by digital image processing. There are a few field of development towards automation, e.g. feature extraction, extraction of edges and lines and the detection of corresponding points. The acquired data may be used in a CAD environment or for visualization in Virtual Reality Models, using digital orthoimages for texture mapping.
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.
In this contribution, the design of an analysis environment is presented, that supports an analyst to come to a decision within a gradual collaborative planning process. An analyst represents a project manager, planner or any other person, involved in the planning process. Today, planning processes are managed by several geographically distributed planners and project managers. Thus, complexity of such a process rises even more. Prediction of consequences of many planning decisions is not possible, in particular since assessment of a planning advance is not trivial. There have to be considered several viewpoints, that depend on individual perceptions. In the following, methods are presented to realize planning decision support.
A lot of real-life problems lead frequently to the solution of a complicated (large scale, multicriteria, unstable, nonsmooth etc.) nonlinear optimization problem. In order to cope with large scale problems and to develop many optimum plans a hiearchical approach to problem solving may be useful. The idea of hierarchical decision making is to reduce the overall complex problem into smaller and simpler approximate problems (subproblems) which may thereupon treated independently. One way to break a problem into smaller subproblems is the use of decomposition-coordination schemes. For finding proper values for coordination parameters in convex programming some rapidly convergent iterative methods are developed, their convergence properties and computational aspects are examined. Problems of their global implementation and polyalgorithmic approach are discussed as well.
This paper concerns schedule synchronization problems in public transit networks. In particular, it consists of three main parts. In the first the subject area is introduced, the terms are defined and framework for optimal synchronization in the form of problem representation and formulation is proposed. The second part is devoted to transfer synchronization problem when passengers changing transit lines at transfer points. The intergrated Tabu Search and Genetic solution method is developed with respect to this specific problem. The third part deals with headways harmonization problem i.e. synchronization of different transit lines schedules on a common segments of routes. For the solution of this problem a new bilevel optimization method is proposed with zones harmonization at the bottom level and co-ordination of zones, by time buffers assigned to timing points, at the upper level. Finally, the synchronization problems are numerically illustrated by real-life examples of the public transport lines in Cracow.
Most of the existing seismic resistant design codes are based on the response spectrum theory. The influence of inelastic deformations can be evaluated by considering inelastic type of resisting force and then the inelastic spectrum is considerably different from the elastic one. Also, the influence of stiffness degradation and strength deterioration can be accounted for by including more precise models from material point of view. In some recent papers the corresponding changes in response spectra due to the P- Ä effect are discussed. The experience accumulated from the recent earthquakes indicates that structural pounding may considerably influence the response of structures and should be taken into account in design procedures. The most convenient way to do that is to predict the influence of the pounding on the response spectra for accelerations, velocities and displacements. Generally speaking the contact problems such as pounding are characterized by large extent of nonlinearity and slow convergence of the computational procedures. Thus obtaining spectra where the contact problem is accounted for seems very attractive from engineering point of view because could easy be implemented into the design procedures. However it is worth nothing that there is not rigorous mathematical proof that the original system can be decomposed into single equations related to single degree of freedom systems. It is the porpose of the paper to study the influence of the pounding on the response spectra and to evaluate the amplification due to the impact. For this purpose two adjacent SDOF systems are considered that are able to interact during the vibration process. This problem is solved versus the elastic stiffness ratio, which appears to be very important for such assemblage. The contact between masses is numerically simulated using opening gap elements as links. Comparisons between calculated response spectra and linear response spectra are made in order to derive analytical relationships to simply obtain the contribution of pounding. The results are graphically illustrated in response spectra format and the influence of the stiffness ratio is clarified.
The cost of keeping large area urban computer aided architectural design (CAAD) models up to date justifies wider use and access. This paper reviews the potential for collaborative groupwork creation and maintenance of such models and suggests an approach to data entry, data management and generation of appropriate levels of detail models from a Geographic Information System (GIS). Staff at the University of the West of England (UWE) modelled a large area of Bristol to demonstrate millennium landmark proposals. It became swiftly apparent that continued amendment of the model to keep it an accurate reflection of changes on the ground was a major data management problem. Piecing in new CAAD models received from Architectural Practices to visualise them in context as part of the planning negotiation process has often taken staff several days of work for each instance. The model is so complex and proprietary that Bristol City operates a specialist visualisation bureau service. UWE later modelled the environs of the Tower of London to support bids for funding and to provide the context for judging the visual impact of iterative design development. Further research continued to develop more effective approaches to. Data conversion and amalgamation from all the diverse sources was the major impediment to effective group working to create the models. It became apparent that a GIS would assist retrieving all the appropriate data that described the part of the model under creation. It was possible to predict that management of many historic part models stepping back through time, allowing for different expert interpretations to co-exist would be in itself a major task requiring a spatial database/GIS. UWE started afresh from the original source data, to explore the collaborative use of GIS and Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) to integrate models and interventions from various sources and to generate an overall navigable interactive whole. Current exploration of the combination of event driven behaviours and Structured Query Language is seeking to define how appropriately to modify objects in the VRML model on demand. This is beginning to realise the potential for use of this process for: asynchronous group modelling on the lines of a collaborative virtual design studio; historic building maintenance management; visitor management; interpretation of historic sites to visitors and public planning information.
The development of a consistent material model for textile reinforced concrete requires the formulation and calibration of several sub-models on different resolution scales. Each of these models represents the material structure at the corresponding scale. While the models at the micro-level are able to capture the fundamental failure and damage mechanisms of the material components (e.g. filament rupture and debonding from the matrix) their computational costs limit their application to the small size representative unit cells of the material structure. On the other hand, the macro-level models provide a sufficient performance at the expense of limited range of applicability. Due to the complex structuring of the textile reinforced concrete at several levels (filament - yarn - textile - matrix) it is a non-trivial task to develop a multiscale model from scratch. It is rather more effective to develop a set of conceptually related sub-models for each structural level covering the selected phenomena of the material behavior. The homogenized effective material properties obtained at the lower level may be verified and validated using experiments and models at the higher level(s). In this paper the development of a consistent material model for textile reinforced concrete is presented. Load carrying and failure mechanisms at the micro, meso and macro scales are described and models with the focus on the specified scales are introduced. The models currently being developed in the framework of the collaborative research center are classified and evaluated with respect to the failure mechanisms being captured. The micromechanical modeling of the yarn and bonding behavior is discussed in detail and the correspondence with the experiments focused on the selected failure and interaction mechanisms is shown. The example of modeling the bond layer demonstrates the application of the presented strategy.
Humans are able to think, to feel, and to sense. We are also able to compute but not very well. In contrast, computers are giants in computing. Yet, they can not do anything else besides computing. Appropriate combinations of the different gifts and strengths of human and computer may result in impressive performances. In the 3-Hirn approach one human and two computers are involved. On the computers different programs are running. The human starts the machines and inspects the solutions they propose. He compares these candidate solutions and finally decides for one of the alternatives. So, the human makes the final choice from a small number of computer proposals. In performance-oriented chess, 3-Hirn combinations consisting of an amateur player and commer-cial software have reached world class level. 3-Hirn is a Decision Support System with Multiple Choice Structure. Such Multiple Choice Systems will be exhibited and discussed.
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.
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.
This article discusses how the failures of construction projects could be prevented. The focus is on using IT tools in communication. The article is based on the findings of the PROLABproject. The project seeks to find solutions for how the information can effectively be used in project management, specially in construction projects, what kind of procedures help the management of the knowledge and how the obstacles for efficient ways of administrating the information can be removed. These obstacles can be either related to use of new technology or to organization culture. The paper discusses e-mail as a medium of communication with the media richness framework (Fulk & Boyd 1991) based on the interviews done with the participants of construction projects. We found out that the emails were used in both rich way and not so rich way. Obstacles of rich use of IT communication were partly technical and partly psychological. Technology acceptance model (TAM) is used to study the actual use of emails in communication. Obstacles of the use of emails were mostly individual differences like the skills to use the system or external variables like they did not have proper software to open the attachments. Also people talked about information overload. Emails often push too much information. Keywords: IT tools, Communication, Knowledge management, Construction
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.
Site superintendents performing project management tasks on construction sites need to access project documents and need to collect information that they observe while inspecting the site. Often, information that is observed on a construction site needs to be integrated into electronic documents or project control systems. In the future, we expect integrated product and process models to be the medium for storing and handling construction project management information. Even though mobile computing devices today are already capable of storing and handling such integrated product and process data models, the user interaction with such large and complex models is difficult and not adequately addressed in the existing research. In this paper, we introduce a system that supports project management tasks on construction sites effectively and efficiently by making integrated product and process models accessible. In order to effectively and efficiently enter or access information, site superintendents need visual representations of the project data that are flexible with respect to the level of detail, the decomposition structure, and the type of visual representation. Based on this understanding of the information and data collection needs, we developed the navigational model framework and the application Site Data Collection System (SiDaCoS), which implements that framework. The navigational model framework allows site superintendents to create customized representations of information contained in a product and process model that correspond to their data access and data collection needs on site.
Collaboration in AEC Design : Web-enabling Applications using Peer-to-Peer Office Communicator
(2004)
A market analysis conducted by Gartner Dataquest in August 2001 has shown the typical characteristics of the AEC design process. High volatility in membership of AEC design groups and members dispersed over several external offices is the common collaboration scenario. Membership is most times short lived, compared to the overall duration of the process. A technical solution has to take that into account by making joining and leaving a collaborative work group very easy. The modelling of roles of collaboration between group members must be based on a commonly understood principle like the publisher / subscriber model, where the individual that is responsible for the distribution of vital information is clear. Security issues and trust in the confidentiality of the system is a central concern for the acceptance of the system. Therefore, keeping the subset of data that will be published under the absolute control of the publisher is a must. This is not the case with server-based scenarios, sometimes even due to psychological reasons. A loosely bound Peer-to-Peer network offers advantages over a server-based solution, because of less administrative overhead and simple installation procedures. In a peer-to-peer environment, a publish/subscribe role model can be more easily implemented. The publish/subscribe model matches the way AEC processes are modelled in real world scenarios today, where legal proof of information exchange between external offices is of high importance. Workflow management systems for small to midsize companies of the AEC industry may adopt the peer-to-peer approach to collaboration in the future. Further investigations are being made on the research level (WINDS) by integrating the viewer and redlining application Collaborate! into a collaborative environment.
Most retaining walls and box culverts built for arterial road construction are simple, and the design process of these structures is often repetitive and labor-intensive because they are so similar in structural configuration. Although some integrated design automation systems developed for retaining walls and box culverts have expedited the design process of these structures, the process of collecting and distributing the resultant engineering documents has not been fully integrated with the computer applications. We have been developing a Web-based design automation system to manage the resultant documents as well as to speed up the repetitive design process. Manipulation of engineering drawings in the Web page is one of the critical functions needed for Web-based design automation. eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and XML-based vector graphics are expected to facilitate the representation of engineering drawings in the Web page. In this paper, we present how we used XML and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to compose engineering drawings and represent them in the Web page. XML Data Island we designed to define drawing components turned out effective in manipulating the engineering drawings in the Web page.
Former achievements for integrated information management have concentrated on interoperability of applications like e.g. CAD, structural analysis or facility management, based on product models introducing additional application independent model layers (core models). In the last years it has become clear, that besides interoperability of autonomous applications, the concurrent processes of model instantiation and evolution have to be modeled, including the relationship to available project resources, persons, legal requirements and communication infrastructure. This paper discusses some basic concepts for an emerging methodology relating the fields of product modeling, project management and workflow systems by elaborating the concept of a process model, which gives a decomposition of the project goals into executable activities. Integrated information management systems should be related to process models to detect pending activities, deadlocks and alternatives of execution. According to the heterogeneous nature of project communication processes, a method for dynamic classification of ad-hoc activities is suggested, that complements predefined highlevel process definitions. In a brief outline of the system architecture, we show how sophisticated information management systems can be broadly made available by using conventional Internet technologies.
Bauablaufplänen kommt bei der Realisierung von Bauprojekten eine zentrale Rolle zu. Sie dienen der Koordination von Schnittstellen und bilden für die am Projekt Beteiligten die Grundlage für ihre individuelle Planung. Eine verlässliche Terminplanung ist daher von großer Bedeutung, tatsächlich sind aber gerade Bauablaufpläne für ihre Unzuverlässigkeit bekannt.
Aufgrund der langen Vorlaufzeiten bei der Planung von Bauprojekten sind zum Zeitpunkt der Planung viele Informationen nur als Schätzwerte bekannt. Auf der Grundlage dieser geschätzten und damit mit Unsicherheiten behafteten Daten werden im Bauwesen deterministische Terminpläne erstellt. Kommt es während der Realisierung zu Diskrepanzen zwischen Schätzungen und Realität, erfordert dies die Anpassung der Pläne. Aufgrund zahlreicher Abhängigkeiten zwischen den geplanten Aktivitäten können einzelne Planänderungen vielfältige weitere Änderungen und Anpassungen nach sich ziehen und damit einen reibungslosen Projektablauf gefährden.
In dieser Arbeit wird ein Vorgehen entwickelt, welches Bauablaufpläne erzeugt, die im Rahmen der durch das Projekt definierten Abhängigkeiten und Randbedingungen in der Lage sind, Änderungen möglichst gut zu absorbieren. Solche Pläne, die bei auftretenden Änderungen vergleichsweise geringe Anpassungen des Terminplans erfordern, werden hier als robust bezeichnet.
Ausgehend von Verfahren der Projektplanung und Methoden zur Berücksichtigung von Unsicherheiten werden deterministische Terminpläne bezüglich ihres Verhaltens bei eintretenden Änderungen betrachtet. Hierfür werden zunächst mögliche Unsicherheiten als Ursachen für Änderungen benannt und mathematisch abgebildet. Damit kann das Verhalten von Abläufen für mögliche Änderungen betrachtet werden, indem die durch Änderungen erzwungenen angepassten Terminpläne simuliert werden. Für diese Monte-Carlo-Simulationen der angepassten Terminpläne wird sichergestellt, dass die angepassten Terminpläne logische Weiterentwicklungen des deterministischen Terminplans darstellen. Auf der Grundlage dieser Untersuchungen wird ein stochastisches Maß zur Quantifizierung der Robustheit erarbeitet, welches die Fähigkeit eines Planes, Änderungen zu absorbieren, beschreibt. Damit ist es möglich, Terminpläne bezüglich ihrer Robustheit zu vergleichen.
Das entwickelte Verfahren zur Quantifizierung der Robustheit wird in einem Optimierungsverfahren auf Basis Genetischer Algorithmen angewendet, um gezielt robuste Terminpläne zu erzeugen. An Beispielen werden die Methoden demonstriert und ihre Wirksamkeit nachgewiesen.
Three-dimensional models of urban objects play an important role in the urban applications such as urban planning, environmental concerning, or urban disaster mitigations. While the modeling of urban objects is time consuming and storage costing. This paper presents solutions for this. Buildings with regular shapes and plane roofs are constructed into computer models by identifying of graphic elements from the digital maps of urban area to get building base plane and building heights. Buildings with irregular shapes and non-plane roofs are constructed into computer models by employment of a specific system developed by the authors. Road objects and topologies are constructed into computer models by employment of specific algorithms. The solutions presented in this paper has been used in the development of urban disaster mitigation system for Shantou, China.
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 general motivation of this research is to develop software to support the handling of the increased complexity of architectural design. In this paper we describe a system providing general support during the whole process. Instead of only developing design tools we are also addressing the problem of the operating environment of these tools. We conclude that design tools have to be integrated in an open, modular, distributed, user friendly and efficient environment. Two major fields have to be addressed - the development of design tools and the realisation of an integrated system as their operation environment. We will briefly focus on the latter by discussing known technologies in the field of information technology and other design disciplines that can be used to realise such an environment. Regarding the first subject we have to state the need of a detailed tool specification. As a solution we suggest a strategy where the tool functions are specified on the basis of a transformation, where a hierarchical process model is mapped into specifications of different design tools realising appropriate support for all sub-processes of architectural design. Using this strategy the main steps to develop such a support system are: implementation of a framework as basis for the integrated design system decision whether the tool specification are already implemented in available tools in this case these tools can be integrated using known methods for tool coupling otherwise new design tools have to be developed according to the framework
In the superelliptic shell joined to a circular cylinder bending stresses are absent when it is subjected to uniform pressure.Some geometrical characteristics have been found. Expressions for determining stresses in the shell crest(in the singular point of plane type) are suggested. The problem of a theoretical critical buckling load of an elongated shell supported by frames is studied. A critical buckling load for two shells with different specifications was found experimentally.
The subject of this talk is the problem of surface design based upon a mesh that may contain both triangular and quadrangular domains. We investigate the cases when such a combined mesh occurs more preferable for bivariate data interpolation than a pure triangulation. First we describe a modification of the well-known flipping algorithm that constructs a locally optimal combined mesh with a predefined quality criterion. Then we introduce two quality measures for triangular and quadrangular domains and present the results of a computational experiment that compares integral interpolation errors and errors in gradients caused by the piecewise surface models produced by the flipping algorithm with the introduced quality measures. The experiment shows that triangular meshes with the Delaunay quality measure provide better interpolation accuracy only if the interpolated function is strictly convex, as well as a saddle-shaped function is better interpolated by bilinear patches within a combined mesh. For a randomly shaped function combined meshes demonstrate smaller error values and better stability in compare with pure triangulations. At the end we consider other resources for mesh improvement, such as excluding >bad< points from the input set for the mesh generating procedure. Because the function values at these points should not be lost, some linear or bilinear patches are replaced by nonlinear patches that pass through the excluded points.
Methods with the convergence order p 2 (Newton`s, tangent hyperbolas, tangent parabolas etc.) and their approximate variants are studied. Conditions are presented under which the approximate variants preserve their convergence rate intrinsic to these methods and some computational aspects (possibilities to organize parallel computation, globalization of a method, the solution of the linear equations versus the matrix inversion at every iteration etc.) are discussed. Polyalgorithmic computational schemes (hybrid methods) combining the best features of various methods are developed and possibilities of their application to numerical solution of two-point boundary-value problem in ordinary differential equations and decomposition-coordination problem in convex programming are analyzed.
The purpose of this paper is to review model for finite element techniques for non-linear crack analysis of reinforced concrete beams and slabs. The non-linear behaviour of concrete and steel were described. Some calculations of >self-stress< for concrete and reinforced concrete beam was made. Current computational aspects are discussed. Several remarks for future studies are also given. The numerical model of the concrete and reinforced concrete was described. The paper shows the results of calculations on a reinforced concrete plane stress panel with cracks. The non-linear, numerical model of calculations of reinforced concrete was assumed. Using finite elements method some calculations were made. The results of calculations like displacements, stresses and cracking are shown on diagrams. They were compared with experimental results and other finding. Some conclusions about the described model and results of calculation are shown.
Ideally, multiple computational building evaluation routines (particularly simulation tools) should be coupled in real-time to the representational design model to provide timely performance feed-back to the system user. In this paper we demonstrate how this can be achieved effectively and conveniently via homology-based mapping. We consider two models as homologous if they entail isomorphic topological information. If the general design representation (i.e., a shared object model) is generated in a manner so as to include both the topological building information and pointers to the semantic information base, it can be used to directly derive the domain representations (>enriched< object models with detailed configurational information and filtered semantic data) needed for evaluation purposes. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate a computational design environment that dynamically links an object-oriented space-based design model, with structurally homologous object models of various simulation routines.
In construction engineering, a schedule’s input data, which is usually not exactly known in the planning phase, is considered deterministic when generating the schedule. As a result, construction schedules become unreliable and deadlines are often not met. While the optimization of construction schedules with respect to costs and makespan has been a matter of research in the past decades, the optimization of the robustness of construction schedules has received little attention. In this paper, the effects of uncertainties inherent to the input data of construction schedules are discussed. Possibilities are investigated to improve the reliability of construction schedules by considering alternative processes for certain tasks and by identifying the combination of processes generating the most robust schedule with respect to the makespan of a construction project.
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...
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.
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.
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).
A Product Model of a Road
(1997)
Many errors and delays frequently appear when data is exchanged between particular tasks in the lifecycle of the road. Inter-task connections are therefore of great importance for the quality of the final product. The article describes a product model of a road wich is the kernel of an integrated information system intended to support all important stages of the road lifecycle: design, evaluation (through different analysis procedures), construction, and maintainance. Since particular tasks are often executed at different places and in different companies, the interconnections are supported by a special metafile which contains all specific data of the product model. The concept of the integrated system is object and component oriented. Additionally, existing conventional program packages are included to support some common tasks (methods). A conventional relational database system as well as an open spatial database system with the relevant GIS functionality are included to support the data structures of the model.
The paper analyses the influence of the effect of inertia on the reliability of production systems. Systems inertia represents the phenomenon of continuing work for some time after the breakdown of one of the former phases. In our considerations, inertia is treated as the time elapsed from the onset of breakdown till the system's inability to work. A special method had to be devised to investigate the effect of inertia in order to evaluate the reliability of production systems and to attempt algorithmization to control the reliability of production system by means of inertia or reserving. The method of reliability analysis is presented only in an inform aspect. The possibilities of increasing reliability of production systems are listed. A comparison of the redundancy method and inertia method is presented. The results of this comparison and simulated investigations of influence of inertia on reliability of system are essential scope of the paper. Selected conclusions are as follows: when inertia approaches the last phase in the system, its influence on the shape of the distribution of the system's ability increases; an increase in inertia causes an increase in the availability of the system which approaches a certain border value; dependence of the average of a system's disability on inertia has a saddle-like character whereas dependence of the number of breakdowns (stoppages) in the system has the nature of an S-curve.
The paper deals with the simulation of the non-linear and time dependent behaviour of complex structures in engineering. Such simulations have to provide high accuracy in the prediction of deformations and stability, by taking into account the long term influences of the non-linear behaviour of the material as well as the large deformation and contact conditions. The limiting factors of the computer simulation are the computer run time and the memory requirement during solving large scale problems. To overcome these problems we use a dynamic-explicit time integration procedure for the solution of the semi-discrete equations of motion, which is very suited for parallel processing. In the paper at first we give a brief review of the theoretical background of the mechanical modelling and the dynamic-explicit technique for the solution of the semi-discrete equations of motion. Then the concept of parallel processing will be discussed . A test example concludes the paper.
This paper introduces the current development of electronic catalogues of construction products. The common system architecture of Web-based electronic products catalogues are discussed, followed by a discussion on construction products information standardization and latest distributed-systems technologies for communicating construction products information. Finally, this paper presents an implementation of Web service in e-commerce systems to enable sharing of construction products information.
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.
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.
Information science researchers and developers have spent many years addressing the problem of retrieving the exact information needed and using it for analysis purposes. In informationseeking dialogues, the user, i.e. construction project manager or supplier, often asks questions about specific aspects of the tasks they want to perform. But most of the time it is difficult for the software systems to unambiguously understand their overall intentions. The existence of information tunnels (Tannenbaum 2002) aggravates this phenomenon. This study includes a detailed case study of the material management process in the construction industry. Based on this case study, the structure of a formal user model for information retrieval in construction management is proposed. This prototype user model will be incorporated into the system design for construction information management and retrieval. This information retrieval system is a user-centered product based on the development of a user configurable visitor mechanism for managing and retrieving project information without worrying too much about the underlying data structure of the database system. An executable UML model combined with OODB is used to reduce the ambiguity in the user's intentions and to achieve user satisfaction.
This paper examines the impact of information technology (IT) utilization on construction firm performance. Based on empirical data collected from 74 US construction firms, the analyses provide evidence that IT has a positive impact on overall firm performance, schedule performance, and cost performance. Firm performance is a composite score of several metrics of performance: schedule performance, cost performance, customer satisfaction, safety performance, and profit. No relationship is found between IT utilization and customer satisfaction, safety, or profit, although this may be due to limitations of the study given strong correlations between IT utilization and cost and schedule performnance. The empirical evidence of positive association between performance and IT use provided by this research is significant to both construction practice and research literature. This evidence should encourage firms to adopt and invest in IT tools.
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.
The presented work focuses on collaboration- experiences gathered with complex design and engineering projects, using the learning platform POLE- Europe. Within the POLE environment student-teams from different universities, disciplines and cultural backgrounds are assigned to real-world projects with clearly defined design - tasks, usually to be accomplished within one semester while working in a virtual environment for most of the time. The concept of POLE and the information and collaboration technology is described.
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.
Recent research shows that current learning strategies in construction industry have not been effective in implementing lean principles in construction. With that in mind the researchers set to investigate an alternative learning strategy in order to promote learning at the international level. A web-based environment, was developed for this project with the intent of promoting learning and knowledge exchange on the theory and practice of "process transparency" across different countries.
The problem F|n=2|F is to minimize the given objective function F(C1,m, C2,m) of completion times Ci,m of two jobs i Î J={1, 2} processed on m machines M={1, 2, …, m}. Both jobs have the same technological route through m machines. Processing time ti,k of job iÎ J on machine kÎ M is known. Operation preemptions are not allowed. Let R2m be space of non-negative 2m-dimensional real vectors t=(t1,1,…, t1,m, t2,1,…, t2,m) with Chebyshev’s distance d(t, t*). To solve problem F|n=2|F, we can use the geometric algorithm, which includes the following steps: 1) construct digraph (V, A) for problem F|n=2|F and find so-called border vertices in (V, A); 2) construct the set of trajectories corresponding to the shortest paths Rt in digraph (V, A) from the origin vertex to each of the border vertices; 3) find an optimal path in the set Rt that represents a schedule with minimal value of the objective function F. Let path tu Î Rt be optimal for the problem F|n=2|F with operation processing times defined by vector t. If for any small positive real number e > 0 there exists vector t*Î R2m such that d(t, t*) = e and path tu is not optimal for the problem F|n=2|F with operation processing times defined by vector t*, then optimality of path tu is not stable. The main result of the paper is the proof of necessary and sufficient conditions for optimality stability of path tu. If objective function F is continuous non-decreasing (e.g., makespan, total completion time, maximal lateness or total tardiness), then to test whether optimality of the path tu Î Rt is stable takes O(m log m) time.
In the focus of the Bologna-contract of the European secretaries of education the universities are invited to aim a unification and comparability of certificates and to offer compatible and cooperative models of education. Among existing lectures in the Internet there will arise a new competition between the universities in netbased teaching and learning environments. For the use of distributed sources of information and for the possibility to generate free configurable sequences of education modules you need management systems which are able to handle different formats of documents and to assemble it to consistent and valid lessons. Beside elementar viewing-functions, fusion of information also administrative tasks are needed, e.g. automated efficiency controls, adaptive learning surroundings. This paper attends to three aspects: - netbased teaching and learning in the area of the instruction of civil engineers - netbased information assembling and fusion of knowledge bases to higher level documents - netbased learning with international coordinated projects
The contribution introduces an adaptable process model to meet the special requirements of the coordination of planning activities in AEC (Architecture, Engineering, Construction). The process model is based on the concept of Coloured Petri-Nets and uses metainformation to characterize process-relevant information and to enable process-control based on the actual results of the planning.
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.
The US Department of Highways is embarked on a very ambitious program to renovate much of the bridges and highways allover the USA. While it is doing so, it is also trying to take advantage of using such program to enhance the research for future programs. One of those projects is a 1000 ft. (305 m) long concrete bridge in the State of Vermont, located in the North East of USA. It is scheduled for renovation, in which the deck and its side parapet walls will be replaced. New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) decided to make further use of this project to find what effect will the heavy demolition tools have on the concrete to remain in place. The goal is to find out the extent of the experimental measurement agreement with the analytical results. In order to accomplish such a goal, numerous strain gages were installed at and in the vicinity of the demolition areas. Those gages will measure the effect of the demolition on the adjacent areas, and how far the destructive effect of the powerful demolition tools can propagate through different parts of the structure. The gages are connected to National Instruments data acquisition equipment, which is connected to a lap top computer to save all the acquired data. The analytical part the project will be using the energy method, which means that the energy applied by the demolition tools should equal the energy absorbed by the demolished structure, in elastic and plastic deformation forms.
Rectangular steel frames are considered and subjected to strong ground motion. Their behavior factor is numerically evaluated using nonlinear time history analysis and different ground acceleration records. The behavior factor is determined assuming severe collapse mechanism occurs throughout the time history. The system of equations is transformed into single equation end then the energy balance concept is applied. The expression for the behavior factor is derived and its application to four story two bays steel frame is illustrated and the corresponding results are discussed.
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.
Preparation and provision of building information for planning within existing built contexts
(2004)
A prerequisite for planning within existing built contexts is precise information regarding the building substance, its construction and materials, possible damages and any modifications and additions that may have occurred during its lifetime. Using the information collected in a building survey the user should be able to “explore” the building in virtual form, as well as to assess the information contained with regard to a specific planning aspect. The functionality provided by an information module should cover several levels of information provision ranging from ‘simple retrieval’ of relevant information to the analysis and assessment of stored information with regard to particular question sets. Through the provision of basic functionality at an elementary level and the ability to extend this using plug-ins, the system concept of an open extendable system is upheld. Using this modular approach, different levels of information provision can be provided as required during the planning process.
The research reported in this article was conducted to mainly explore the two common numeric prediction techniques, the model tree and the regression tree, when used in conjunction with bagging as a wrapper method. Bagging is used to improve the prediction accuracy of these two algorithms, and results are compared with the ones obtained earlier by the k-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm. From the conducted experiments, both the bagged regression tree and bagged model tree produce better results than not only their corresponding regression tree and model tree alone, but also the KNN with optimal value of k equal to 7. In addition, the bagged model tree yields the lowest prediction errors and a highest correlation coefficient of 0.81. It is demonstrated that it is feasible to use the bagged model tree for engineering applications in prediction problems such as estimating the remaining service life of bridge decks.
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.
Construction is a conservative industry that over the last twenty ye ars has experienced drastic changes in the way that interdisciplinary teams interact to design and execute a project. In this article we offer a general overview of how the main participants cooperate in the different phases of a construction project, and which are some of the main areas for communication improvement. We also explore the communication tools used in the exchange of information, and identify the main causes of information breakdown. The general framework of this study is of application to both standard and green projects. At the end of the article we discuss the peculiarities of green buildings. Our goal is to offer a series of industry insights derived from the perspective of a general contractor aimed at identifying the areas where contributions in computing and information exchange could have a greater impact on the successful completion of a project.
The conceptual structure of an application that can support the structural analysis task in a distributed collaboratory is described in (van Rooyen and Olivier 2004). The application described there has a standalone component for executing the finite element method on a local workstation in the absence of network access. This application is comparable to current, local workstation based finite element packages. However, it differs fundamentally from standard packages since the application itself, and its objects, are adapted to support distributed execution of the analysis task. Basic aspects of an object-oriented framework for the development of applications which can be used in similar distributed collaboratories are described in this paper. An important feature of this framework is its application-centred design. This means that an application can contain any number of engineering models, where the models are formed by the collection of objects according to semantic views within the application. This is achieved through very flexible classes Application and Model, which are described in detail. The advantages of the application-centred design approach is demonstrated with reference to the design of steel structures, where the finite element analysis model, member design model and connection design model interact to provide the required functionality.
For the analysis of arbitrary, by Finite Elements discretized shell structures, an efficient numerical simulation strategy with quadratic convergence including geometrically and physically nonlinear effects will be presented. In the beginning, a Finite-Rotation shell theory allowing constant shear deformations across the shell thickness is given in an isoparametric formulation. The assumed-strain concept enables the derivation of a locking-free finite element. The Layered Approach will be applied to ensure a sufficiently precise prediction of the propagation of plastic zones even throughout the shell thickness. The Riks-Wempner-Wessels global iteration scheme will be enhanced by a Line-Search procedure to ensure the tracing of nonlinear deformation paths with rather great load steps even in the post-peak range. The elastic-plastic material model includes isotropic hardening. A new Operator-Split return algorithm ensures considerably exact solution of the initial-value problem even for greater load steps. The combination with consistently linearized constitutive equations ensures quadratic convergence in a close neighbourhood to the exact solution. Finally, several examples will demonstrate accuracy and numerical efficiency of the developed algorithm.
Communication software and distributed applications for control and building performance simulation software must be reliable, efficient, flexible, and reusable. This paper reports on progress of a project, which aims to achieve better integrated building and systems control modeling in building performance simulation by run-time coupling of distributed computer programs. These requirements motivate the use of the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), which offers sufficient advantage than communication within simple abstraction. However, set up highly available applications with CORBA is hard. Neither control modeling software nor building performance environments have simple interface with CORBA objects. Therefore, this paper describes an architectural solution to distributed control and building performance software tools with CORBA objects. Then, it explains how much the developement of CORBA based distributed building control simulation applications is difficult. The paper finishes by giving some recommendations.
This paper describes an approach to support co-operation of experts in heterogeneous geotechnical engineering project environments during both regular execution and handling of exceptional situations. A co-operation platform is introduced which is based on a generalized information model mapping key information about the construction project, the construction process as well as the organization structure. Several tools are provided to operate the information model in a network based environment.
DETERMINATION OF THE DYNAMIC STRESS INTENSITY FACTOR USING ADVANCED ENERGY RELEASE EVALUATION
(2000)
In this study a simple effective procedure practically based upon the FEM for determination of the dynamic stress intensity factor (DSIF) depending on the input frequency and using an advanced strain energy release evaluation by the simultaneous release of a set of fictitious nodal spring links near the crack tip is developed and applied. The DSIF is expressed in terms of the released energy per unit crack length. The formulations of the linear fracture mechanics are accepted. This technique is theoretically based upon the eigenvalue problem for assessment of the spring stiffnesses and on the modal decomposition of the crack shape. The inertial effects are included into the released energy. A linear elastic material, time-dependent loading of sine type and steady state response of the structure are assumed. The procedure allows the opening, sliding and mixed modes of the structure fracture to be studied. This rational and powerful technique requires a mesh refinement near the crack tip. A numerical test example of a square notched steel plate under tension is given. Opening mode of fracture is studied only. The DSIF is calculated using a coarse mesh and a single node release for the released energy computation as well a fine mesh and simultaneous release of four links for more accurate values. The results are analyzed. Comparisons with the known exact results from a static loading are presented. Conclusions are derived. The values of the DSIF are significantly larger than the values of the corresponding static SIF. Significant peaks of the DSIF are observed near the natural frequences. This approach is general, practicable, reliable and versatile.
SLang - the Structural Language : Solving Nonlinear and Stochastic Problems in Structural Mechanics
(1997)
Recent developments in structural mechanics indicate an increasing need of numerical methods to deal with stochasticity. This process started with the modeling of loading uncertainties. More recently, also system uncertainty, such as physical or geometrical imperfections are modeled in probabilistic terms. Clearly, this task requires close connenction of structural modeling with probabilistic modeling. Nonlinear effects are essential for a realistic description of the structural behavior. Since modern structural analysis relies quite heavily on the Finite Element Method, it seems to be quite reasonable to base stochastic structural analysis on this method. Commercially available software packages can cover deterministic structural analysis in a very wide range. However, the applicability of these packages to stochastic problems is rather limited. On the other hand, there is a number of highly specialized programs for probabilistic or reliability problems which can be used only in connection with rather simplistic structural models. In principle, there is the possibility to combine both kinds of software in order to achieve the goal. The major difficulty which then arises in practical computation is to define the most suitable way of transferring data between the programs. In order to circumvent these problems, the software package SLang (Structural Language) has been developed. SLang is a command interpreter which acts on a set of relatively complex commands. Each command takes input from and gives output to simple data structures (data objects), such as vectors and matrices. All commands communicate via these data objects which are stored in memory or on disk. The paper will show applications to structural engineering problems, in particular failure analysis of frames and shell structures with random loads and random imperfections. Both geometrical and physical nonlinearities are taken into account.
Cost and Schedule Controlling in Relation to Liquidity Management during Construction Projects
(2004)
The present paper describes a software application which can be used for relating the scheduled events of a construction project with the respective financial parameters, leading to an overall improvement in general controlling and liquidity management. For this purpose, existing construction schedules are taken and details of the assignment are recorded. Thus it becomes possible to assess a future payment status should changes in the designated schedule occur.
Re-using knowledge in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms can lead to greater competitive advantage, improved designs, and more effective management of constructed facilities. This paper discusses the importance of exploration and discovery of reusable knowledge from a corporate archive as opposed to simple search and retrieval. We describe and illustrate through a scenario of use an exploration framework and prototype, CoMemTM that formalizes the added value of exploration in the process of knowledge reuse. We discuss two exploration activities: (i) Breadth- Only overview exploration that assist a user to rapidly localize pockets of re-usable knowledge from the large corporate archive and (ii) Iterative breadth-depth exploration that enables a user to identify those re-usable components of the Corporate Memory that may yield design issues that were not originally considered.
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 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.
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...
In this paper the results of the investigations of the free oscillations of the pre-stressed flexible structure elements are presented . Two cases of the central preliminary stress are investigated : without intermediate fastening of the tie to the flexible element and with the intermediate fastening in the middle of the element length. The given physical model can be applied to the flexible sloping shells and arches, membranes, large space antenna fields (besides flexible elements). The peculiarity of these systems is the possibility of the non-adjacent equilibrium form existence at the definite relations of the physical parameters . The transition from one stable equilibrium form to another, non-adjacent form, may be treated as jump. In this case they are called systems with buckling or the systems with two potential «gaps». These systems commenced the new section of the mathematical physics - the theory of chaos and strange attractors. The analysis of the solutions confirms the received for the first time by the author and given in effect of the oscillation period doubling of the system during the transition from the «small» oscillations relatively center to the >large< relatively all three equilibrium conditions. The character of the frequency (period) dependence on the free oscillation amplitudes of the non-linear system also confirms the received earlier result of the duality of the system behaviour : >small< oscillations possess the qualities of soft system; >large< oscillations possess the qualities of rigid system. The >small< oscillation natural frequency changing, depending on the oscillation amplitudes, is in the internal . Here the frequency takes zero value at the amplitude values Aa and Ad (or Aa and Ae ); the frequency takes maximum value at the amplitude value near point b .The >large< oscillation natural frequency changes in the interval . Here is also observed . The influence of the tie intermediate fastening doesn't introduce qualitative changes in the behaviour of the investigated system. It only increases ( four times ) the critical value of the preliminary tension force
Priority-rule methods for approximately minimizing the duration of a project subject to minimal and maximal time lags between the activities of the project and limited availability of renewable resources are considered. Such a project can be modelled by a cyclic activity-on-node network. Two generation schemes for constructing feasible schedules are discussed: the serial and parallel schemes. Two different kinds of heuristic procedures are proposed. The sequential or direct method processes the activities or respectively nodes of the project network one after another without considering the strong components separately. The contraction method uses a bottom-up technique. First, a feasible subschedule is determined for each strong component. Second, each strong component is replaced by a single node and the resulting acyclic network is treated by the direct method. In conclusion, some results from an experimental performance analysis of the heuristics are given using a new network generator.
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.
This is a paper about knowledge in design and how to elicit knowledge from design processes. The paper is a preparation for an empirical study of interaction in the design process. Reasonings of three authors - Schön, Broadbent and Lundequist - on design processes is presented. They all have a pragmatic perspective in common, and regard the process as an activity without a definite form. Design is seen as an activity of creating models of forms and shapes, by addressing expert knowledge in a dialogic way to problematic situations. Due to the pragmatic approach I find the pragmatist Dewey´s understanding of knowledge and elecitation of knowledge appropiate for studying design processes. According to him it is possible to build up objectified descriptions of experiences, also of such, which are based on experiences of emotional and intuitive nature. There need not be a definite border, which separates tacit knowledge from explicit knowledge - when it comes to the question of the possibility of verbal descriptions. Tacit knowledge is possible to articulate within pragmatic thinking. The conclusion is, that it is possible to study the tacit knowledge of design processes, and get some qualitative insights useful for theory building. A study of design processes can look at three different forms of knowledge. It appears as a precognitive understanding of the design situation, as integrated in the design activity - seeing the situation as something known - and in the process of creating something new.
There are many construction projects in China and mass documents are exchanged among the multi-party, including the owner, the contractor and the engineer in the projects. Based on previous studies, an approach to the utilization of the exchanged documents is established by using data warehouse technology and a prototype system called EXPLYZER is developed. The approach and the prototype system are verified through their application in a construction project. It is concluded that the approach can support the decision-making in project management.
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.
Structural engineering projects are increasingly organized in networked cooperations due to a permanently enlarged competition pressure and a high degree of complexity while performing the concurrent design activities. Software that intends to support such collaborative structural design processes implicates enormous requirements. In the course of our common research work, we analyzed the pros and cons of the application of both the peer-to-peer (University of Bonn) and multiagent architecture style (University of Bochum) within the field of collaborative structural design. In this paper, we join the benefits of both architecture styles in an integrated conceptual approach. We demonstrate the surplus value of the integrated multiagent–peer-to-peer approach by means of an example scenario in which several structural engineers are co-operatively designing the basic structural elements of an arched bridge, applying heterogeneous CAD systems.
Renovation's peculiarities of industrial enterprises in conditions of economic selfsufficiency
(1997)
Probleme of recrienfation of building complex, to the sharp increase of share of reconstruction works, capital repair and modernisation of in-dustrial plants are concidered in this work. The conception of develop-ment and creation of unitified system of expluatation and renovation of industrial plants are worded out. This system is based on date-computer technology and taking into conciderations of real economic relations.
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...
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.
An important feature of the 2003 SARS outbreak in Canada, Singapore, and Hong Kong was that many health care workers (HCWs) developed SARS after caring for patients with SARS. This has been ascribed to inadequate or ineffective patient isolation. However, it is difficult for dense cities to provide sufficient isolation facilities within a short period of time. This has raised concerns from the public for new strategies in the planning and design of isolation facilities. Considering that SARS or other infectious diseases could seriously damage our society’s development, isolation facilities that could be rapidly and economically constructed with appropriate environmental controls are essential. For this reason, the design team of the Department of Architecture collaborated with a special task force from the Faculty of Medicine, who are the frontline medical officers treating the SARS patients, to design Rapidly Assembled Isolation Patient Wards. Both architecture and medicine are well established disciplines, but they have little in common in terms of the mode of knowledge construction and practice. This induced much intellectual exploration and research interest in conducting this study. The process has provided an important reference for cross disciplinary studies between the architectural and medical domains.
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.
As computer programs become ever more complex, software development has shifted from focusing on programming towards focusing on integration. This paper describes a simulation access language (SimAL) that can be used to access and compose software applications over the Internet. Specifically, the framework is developed for the integration of tools for project management applications. The infrastructure allows users to specify and to use existing heterogeneous tools (e.g., Microsoft Project, Microsoft Excel, Primavera Project Planner, and AutoCAD) for simulation of project scenarios. This paper describes the components of the SimAL language and the implementation efforts required in the development of the SimAL framework. An illustration example bringing on-line weather forecasting service for project scheduling and management applications is provided to demonstrate the use of the simulation language and the infrastructure framework.
All construction project are constrained by their schedules, budgets and specifications, and safety and environmental regulations. These constraints made construction management more complex and difficult. At the same time, many historical data that can support the decisions in the future are kept in construction enterprises,. To use the historical data effectively and efficiently, it is essential to apply the data warehouse and data mining technologies. This paper introduces a research which aims to develop a data warehouse system according to the requirements of construction enterprises and use data mining technology to learn useful information and knowledge from the data warehouse system. The design, the development and the application of this system are detailedly introduced in this paper.
Although there are some good reasons to design engineering software as a stand-alone application for a single computer, there are also numerous possibilities for creating distributed engineering applications, in particular using the Internet. This paper presents some typical scenarios how engineering applications can benefit from including network capabilities. Also, some examples of Internet-based engineering applications are discussed to show how the concepts presented can be implemented.
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.
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.
Processing technical and environmental data on building materials, components, and systems has become more important during the last few years. Increased sensitivity towards environmental and energy problems has lead to the demand for simulation and evaluation of the long term behavior of buildings. The results of such simulations are expected to enable architects and engineers to develop a broader, interdisciplinary understanding of the impact of their products (buildings) on the environment. However, conducting such evaluations is currently hampered by the lack of comprehensive, up-to-date, and ecologically relevant data on building materials, components, and systems. To address this problem, this paper proposes an approach to deal with the absent or uncertain attributes of building materials, components, and systems. In the past, various information systems have been developed to provide data on a limited set of building materials, including precise values pertaining to some of their characteristics, such as availability, manufacturers, costs, etc. These traditional information systems have difficulty in dealing with uncertain, incomplete and sparse data. However, uncertainty and incompleteness characterize the nature of most of the available and environmentally related characteristics of materials, components, and systems. In this paper, a fuzzy-logic-based augmentation of traditional information systems is proposed towards providing management, utilization and manipulation of incomplete and uncertain data.
The truss model for predicting shear resistance of reinforced concrete beams has usually been criticized because of its underestimation of the concrete shear strength especially for beams with low shear reinforcement. Two challengers are commonly encountered in any truss model and are responsible for its inaccurate shear strength prediction. First: the cracking angle is usually assumed empirically and second the shear contribution of the arching action is usually neglected. This research introduces a nouvelle approach, by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for accurately evaluating the shear cracking angle of reinforced and prestressed concrete beams. The model inputs include the beam geometry, concrete strength, the shear reinforcement ratio and the prestressing stress if any. ...
Spatial data acquisition, integration, and modeling for real-time project life-cycle applications
(2004)
Current methods for site modeling employs expensive laser range scanners that produce dense point clouds which require hours or days of post-processing to arrive at a finished model. While these methods produce very detailed models of the scanned scene, useful for obtaining as-built drawings of existing structures, the associated computational time burden precludes the methods from being used onsite for real-time decision-making. Moreover, in many project life-cycle applications, detailed models of objects are not needed. Results of earlier research conducted by the authors demonstrated novel, highly economical methods that reduce data acquisition time and the need for computationally intensive processing. These methods enable complete local area modeling in the order of a minute, and with sufficient accuracy for applications such as advanced equipment control, simple as-built site modeling, and real-time safety monitoring for construction equipment. This paper describes a research project that is investigating novel ways of acquiring, integrating, modeling, and analyzing project site spatial data that do not rely on dense, expensive laser scanning technology and that enable scalability and robustness for real-time, field deployment. Algorithms and methods for modeling objects of simple geometric shape (geometric primitives from a limited number of range points, as well as methods provide a foundation for further development required to address more complex site situations, especially if dynamic site information (motion of personnel and equipment). Field experiments are being conducted to establish performance parameters and validation for the proposed methods and models. Initial experimental work has demonstrated the feasibility of this approach.
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...
Collaborative Design Processes: A Class on Concurrent Collaboration in Multidisciplinary Design
(2004)
The rise of concurrent engineering in construction demands early team formation and constant communication throughout the project life cycle, but educational models in architecture, engineering and construction have been slow to adjust to this shift in project organization. Most students in these fields spend the majority of their college years working on individual projects that do not build teamwork or communication skills. Collaborative Design Processes (CDP) is a capstone design course where students from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Florida learn methods of collaborative design enhanced by the use of information technology. Students work in multidisciplinary teams to collaborate from remote locations via the Internet on the design of a facility. An innovation of this course compared to previous efforts is that students also develop process designs for the integration of technology into the work of multidisciplinary design teams. The course thus combines both active and reflective learning about collaborative design and methods. The course is designed to provide students the experience, tools, and methods needed to improve design processes and better integrate the use of technology into AEC industry work practices. This paper describes the goals, outcomes and significance of this new, interdisciplinary course for distributed AEC education. Differences from existing efforts and lessons learned to promote collaborative practices are discussed. Principal conclusions are that the course presents effective pedagogy to promote collaborative design methods, but faces challenges in both technology and in traditional intra-disciplinary training of students.
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...
The design of building projects involves several types of resources such as architects, structural engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, and draftsmen, among others. For design firms to stay in business in this very competitive market, they need to manage their resources in a way that improves productivity and cost effectiveness. This task, however, is not simple and requires thorough analysis of process-level operations, resource use, and productivity. Typically, these operational aspects are the responsibility of the design office manager who assigns available resources to the different design projects to save time and lower design expenses. It is noted that limited studies have been carried out in the literature to model overall organizational operations and behavioral aspects, particularly in firms specialized in the design of building projects. In an effort to simplify the modeling process, a simplified modeling and simulation tool is used in this research. A simulation model representing an actual design office was developed assuming that the office performs designs for small, medium, and large size building projects. The developed model was used to simulate several alternatives and examine various resource assignment strategies. The simulation was conducted over ten years and the resulting productivity and income was measured.
Advances in construction data analysis techniques have provided useful tools to discover explicit knowledge on historical databases supporting project managers’ decision making. However, in many situations, historical data are extracted and preprocessed for knowledge discovery based on time-consuming and problem-specific data preparation solutions, which often results in inefficiencies and inconsistencies. To overcome the problem, we are working on the development of a new data fusion methodology, which is designed to provide timely and consistent access to historical data for efficient and effective management knowledge discovery. The methodology is intended to be a new bridge between historical databases and data analysis techniques, which shields project managers from complex data preparation solutions, and enables them to use discovered knowledge for decision making more conveniently. This paper briefly describes the motivation, the background and the initial results of the ongoing research.
The methods currently used for scheduling building processes have some major advantages as well as disadvantages. The main advantages are the arrangement of the tasks of a project in a clear, easily readable form and the calculation of valuable information like critical paths. The main disadvantage on the other hand is the inflexibility of the model caused by the modeling paradigms. Small changes of the modeled information strongly influence the whole model and lead to the need to change many more details in the plan. In this article an approach is introduced allowing the creation of more flexible schedules. It aims towards a more robust model that lowers the need to change more than a few information while being able to calculate the important propositions of the known models and leading to further valuable conclusions.
To support research in the building sector and in order to help it move towards a new digital economy, the European Commission under the 5th Framework initiative, especially the IST programme, funded various RTD projects. The opportunity to bring these IST projects together was acknowledged so that stronger links can be created under a clustering umbrella and that, moreover, links of those projects with their RTD environment could be facilitated. This has been the objective of work carried out within the ICCI (IST-2001-33022) Cluster project. This paper introduces the main aims and objectives of the project, and then presents its principal outcomes. In a second part, it synthesises the underlying concepts, technology and tools that will make ICT-based Construction a reality in a near future, and gives recommended actions for the industry, the EC and the Construction ICT R&D in Europe, giving some benefit of this project experience to the three communities.
Complex buildings and other structures are cumulatively planned with software that supports the export of building information in the STEP-format on the basis of the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes). Because of the availability of this interface, it is possible to use the data of a building for further processing.
Within the IFC, several geometrical models for the visualization of building elements are provided. Among others, geometric Boolean set operations are needed to "subtract" openings from building elements (e.g. for windows or doors) - CSG (Constructive Solid Geometry).
Therefore, software components based on the algorithms [Laidlaw86] and [Hubbard90] were developed at the professorship Informatik im Bauwesen that support these functionalities on the basis of Java3D. However, it turned out in praxis, that these components are numerically instable and that there is no acceptable robustness or tolerance of errors. This is caused by mistakes in the implementation (bugs) as well as the insufficient handling of numerical inaccuracies. Further, a verification and, where applicable, a correction of qualitative substandard initial data is missing.
Prior to this student research project, the implementation of a self-contained application for a visual error control was initiated. This tool visualizes several program steps and their corresponding data. With use of this tool, the implemented algorithms can be analyzed in detail.
The papers [Laidlaw86] and [Hubbard90] are unsatisfactory describing some essential steps of the algorithm as well as implementation details to execute Boolean set operations on the basis of a B-rep (Boundary Representation) model. Hence, the algorithm should be documented comprehensible with the help of figures and pseudo code. Moreover, problems within the existing implementation shall be identified and possible solution strategies shall be provided.
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.