On BIM Interoperability via the IFC Standard: An Assessment from the Structural Engineering and Design Viewpoint

Building information modelling (BIM) plays a prominent role in a good deal of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) works, envisaging a full transition to digitalization for the construction industry. This is also due to a number of national and international regulations regarding the design, erection, and management of civil engineering constructions. For this reason, full interoperability of software environments such as computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) is a necessary requirement, particularly when the exchange of information comes from different disciplines. Users, throughout the years, have faced CAD–CAE interoperability issues despite following the IFC neutral open file format. This inability to share data (CAD to CAD, CAD to CAE) often generates model-interpretation problems as well as a lack of parametric information and a disconnection of elements. This paper addresses issues and mapping mechanisms in the exchange of data for the purpose of defining a baseline for the current status of bidirectional data exchange between AEC CAD/CAE software via the IFC format. A benchmark study, covering three years of software releases is illustrated; the assessment of the software performance was made with reference to criteria associated with the software’s level of suitability for use of the structural models. Four classes of performance, depending on the accuracy of the data transfer and on the associated corrective actions to be taken, were adopted. This confirmed that at the moment, the implementation of the IFC standard by software manufacturers is geared towards an expert class of users. Further efforts are needed in order to ensure its application is adopted by a wider class, thus extending and regulating its use by national, regional, and local authorities.

Investigation and prediction of noise pollution levels from wind turbines: A case study of Nexif Energy Ben Tre wind power plant, South Vietnam

In recent years, the demand for electric power in Vietnam has increased at annual growth rates of 10% to 12%, and the challenge is to promote renewable energy sector. One of these sustainable energy sources is to harness energy from the wind through wind turbines (WTs). In fact, more wind power plants in Vietnam are continuously to be built due to the rapidly growing demand of country's industrialization and modernization process. However, a significant hindrance preventing the widespread use of WTs in Vietnam is the noise they produce, which significantly contributes to the annoyance experienced by residents living near wind farms. The prediction of noise impacts for new wind farms is one of the many aspects of the environmental impact assessment process in Vietnam as well as in the world. In addition, the determination of the 45 dBA noise contour-line is very important because it is the basis for determining the scope of the project impact according to the IFC/WB performance standards and the number of households to be relocated from the project site. The article’s main focus is therefore on the estimation and simulation of the acoustical noise produced by 18 WTs during the operation phase of Nexif Energy Ben Tre wind power plant and the background noise levels at the project site have been performed by using a combination of specific study methods such as environmental modeling (iNoise Pro modeling software), mapping and geographic information systems. The obtained results show the importance of using modeling method in quantifying the noise levels generated from 18 wind turbines of the Nexif Energy Ben Tre wind power plant met IFC standard and Vietnamese regulation on noise during day-time, but did not meet IFC standard on noise during night-time. The level of background noise measured during night-time in the project area also did not meet IFC standard. Therefore, the overall cumulative noise level exceeds the IFC standard for residential area (45 dBA only). In addition, the appropriate solutions to reduce noise levels from WTs are also proposed.

Developing an Extended IFC Data Schema and Mesh Generation Framework for Finite Element Modeling

Mesh generation plays an important role in determining the result quality of finite element modeling and structural analysis. Building information modeling provides the geometry and semantic information of a building, which can be utilized to support an efficient mesh generation. In this paper, a method based on BRep entity transformation is proposed to realize the finite element analysis using the geometric model in the IFC standard. The h-p version of the finite element analysis method can effectively deal with the refined expression of the model of bending complex components. By meshing the connection model, it is suggested to adopt the method of scanning to generate hexahedron, which improves the geometric adaptability of the mesh model and the quality and efficiency of mesh generation. Based on the extension and expression of IFC information, the effective finite element structure information is extracted and extended into the IFC standard mode. The information is analyzed, and finally the visualization of finite element analysis in the building model can be realized.

Application Status of BIM Collaborative Design in Architecture Major

After the concept of BIM (Building Information Modeling) was proposed around 2000, it developed slowly. With the rapid development of hardware, the IFC standard provides reference standards for BIM collaborative design, enabling BIM collaborative design to effectively solve the shortcomings of traditional 2D drawing design and become a new market trend.

Potential use of BIM for automated updating of building materials values

This study proposes an artifact motivated by improved assertiveness in building design budgets. Building Information Modeling (BIM), with the structure of the parametric objects created in a file format with the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) extension, can provide the data for the object, facilitating the design's control and monitoring process. Through the adoption of the IFC standard in the creation of these objects, the exchange of information between the tools of different software providers becomes viable, allowing interoperability between systems. This is a desired situation in the construction industry, which incurs significant losses due to this problem. An important condition that can significantly contribute to the update of the information of the objects and the budget process is the incorporation of the possibility of updating the value information (price) of the BIM objects that are shared in repositories (object libraries). In this context, this study presents an alternative to updating and retrieving the values of BIM objects based on the IFC standard. An artifact (web environment) was produced linked to a model to meet the proposed objective. This method is presented by computing services, enabling the automated retrieval of the object value between the owners, the price repository and also the designers. The performed tests reveal the practicality of its implementation, with no extensive knowledge of the IFC structure being necessary. It suffices to simply follow the fill out pattern of the custom properties in IFC, defined during the creation of the object. The submission of the construction design to the repository allows for the retrieval of the values and the quantification of objects present in the design. This process is carried out in a simple manner, maintaining the synchrony and traceability of the object with the designer and the owners of the objects making up the architectural and complementary design.