A case study on the use of a conceptual modeling framework for construction simulation

Construction simulation has been an active area of research in the last six decades. Nevertheless, there has been a gap between academia and industry in realizing the capabilities of simulation to support decision-making in construction. One of the well-recognized reasons is the difficulty of undertaking comprehensive simulation studies by construction practitioners, who usually lack sufficient knowledge and skills to adequately build simulation models. Efforts to bridge this gap have been focused on simplifying the computer coding and model implementation stages of construction simulation studies with limited research on the early stage of defining the model and abstracting the system, i.e., conceptual modeling. The conceptual modeling stage is known to be one of the most difficult tasks in a simulation study. Thus, several frameworks to support building conceptual models have been proposed in simulation literature. This study contributes to the research efforts to promote simulation in the construction industry through the adoption of a conceptual modeling framework. It demonstrates the application of the proposed conceptual modeling framework in a case study of piling operations. The findings of this paper reinforced the significance of conceptual modeling by confirming the role of the conceptual model as a communication link between stakeholders. Moreover, the conceptual model was used as a specification document for developing a flexible model that can be replicated in other settings. The use of a documented conceptual model assisted in managing the overall simulation study efficiently, which, in turn, lead to reductions in time and effort for different modeling activities.

Campus Computer Network Construction Simulation and Cyber Security Technology

With the rapid development of the network age, the network has become an indispensable part of our daily life and work. Computer network is also an indispensable part in campus. How to build a suitable computer network according to the campus environment has become an important problem. Then, while improving the level of network security management, it helps the school carry out its work smoothly. Therefore, this paper expounds the construction scheme of campus computer network, so as to help the campus computer network more perfect.

BIM research vs BIM practice: a bibliometric-qualitative analysis from China

PurposeUnderstanding the frontier difference between building information modeling (BIM) research and practice is a top priority to guarantee the engineering significance and feasibility of academic achievements, yet such research gap has not been well-explored. The purpose of this paper is to provide an objective and accurate analysis of BIM knowledge using 551 published BIM-related papers and 68 documents of frontier BIM projects in China.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts the mixed method, combining the bibliometrics method with the qualitative method. Bibliometrics was used to analyze 551 BIM-related literatures from China with Citespace 5.0. Qualitative research was used to analyze 68 project documents from China with Nvivo. Finally, the analysis results are compared to obtain the final conclusion.FindingsThe analysis results of the collected BIM-related papers, given by bibliometrics analysis, show that the subject categories of engineering, civil engineering, and construction and building technology, and 8 key research clusters are extremely important for development of BIM knowledge. The analysis results of the collected project documents, given by qualitative analysis, indicate that visualization, aided management, intelligent construction, simulation and analysis are the hot applications of BIM practice.Originality/valueThrough comparison, certain research gaps between the research and practice community in China was identified, which are useful for identification of research trends and practice frontier in BIM community. This study offers useful and new insights to summarize the status quo of BIM and can be used as a reference to integrate future BIM developments.

Use of Flat Interwoven Wooden Strips in Architecture and Construction. Simulation and Optimization Using 3D Digital Models

This research aims to promote the use of natural materials in construction. Its purpose is to rediscover the interlacing of flat wooden strips. Attending to environmental criteria, it focuses on the study of wood from a locally produced tree, the chestnut, in the north of Spain. However, the proposed methodology can be universally replicated with local wood productions anywhere. The interweaving of flat wooden strips is linked to traditional basketry, which is at serious risk of disappearing in many places. A combined method based on the design of interlaced artifacts is proposed. For this purpose, the mechanical characteristics of the specific material tested were analyzed in advance. The elastic limit of the material was obtained, and this allowed simulating and optimizing the maximum curvatures of the flat strips in a 3D digital model. New geometric shapes were designed with new interlacing wefts and were built with the tested material. The digital models used serve as a record of the artifacts built, and can be posted on web platforms so that they can be universally replicated. This will allow for the preservation of this heritage of built artifacts using basketry techniques, enabling the proposed objective to be achieved.

Resource-Based Quality Performance Estimation Method for Construction Operations

Construction quality is one of the primary management objectives relating to duration and cost for construction projects. Project managers struggle with minimizing duration and cost while maximizing quality for construction projects. In construction projects, duration and cost have management priorities. On the other hand, quality is considered a matter of achievement only when it reaches a certain level. Although the importance of quality control in construction management has been constantly discussed, it has still been sacrificed under the goal of shortening construction duration and reducing costs. This study presents a method for estimating the quantitative quality performance of construction operations in which the level of detail is breaking into the work task level for intuitive quality performance evaluation. For this purpose, quality weights of resources that have a proportional quality importance weight and quality performance indexes of resources are utilized for estimating the quantitative quality performance of construction operations. Quality performance estimation and the resource allocation optimization system is presented and validated using a construction simulation model.