Keywords: BIM, Construction phase, Digitalization, Equipment, IFC, Labor, Material, Process, Tunneling
Astract: The documentation process of conventional tunneling projects is time-consuming and costly. Building Information Modeling (BIM) has enabled substantial productivity gains in the Architecture, Engineering, & Construction (AEC) sector. However, BIM has only been marginally adopted in the execution phase of conventional tunneling projects. For this purpose, we propose a BIM model that facilitates fully digital and automated data exchange between project stakeholders. We use the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) as a basis and identify concepts potentially useful to represent data from the execution phase of construction projects. We demonstrate how IFC concepts are utilized to represent a shift report of a conventional tunneling project. Thereby, we deliver a reference model as an implementation guide for software developers in this domain. This may serve as a blueprint for handling construction management data in a machine-readable format, laying the foundations for Big Open BIM in the execution phase of construction projects.

Keywords: data model, domain models, requirement analysis, software engineering
Astract: The development of software tools is a collaborative process involving both the domain experts and the software engineers. This requires efficient communication considering different expertise and perspectives. Additionally, the two groups utilize language and communication tools in disparate ways. This, in turn, may lead to hidden misunderstandings in the requirement analysis phase and potentially result in implementation problems later on, that is difficult and costly to correct. In this paper, we demonstrate the above mentioned challenge via a use case from the tunneling domain. In particular, during the requirement analysis phase for a software capable of handling the data model of the subsoil. The domain experts in the field can best express the complexity of their domain by describing its artifacts, which in most cases are incomprehensible to the software engineers. We outline a method that interleaves requirement analysis and software modeling to enable an iterative increase of the accuracy and completeness of the information extracted from those artifacts and integrated into a flexible software model, which can produce testable software code automatically. Furthermore, we present a prototypical implementation of our method and a preliminary evaluation of the approach.

Keywords: Building Information Modeling (BIM), Geometric Algorithms, 3D Modelling
Astract: This work introduces a method for integrating 2d construction documentation-level architectural details into a 3d conceptual model of a building to produce a detailed surface model. The goal is to generate geometry that can be built in the designated material using the appropriate standardized techniques. In the first step, we subject each 2d detail to manual 1d feature extraction to determine those shapes that have an influence on the 3d model. We also extract the sharp features of the 3d model to obtain the building’s skeleton, consisting of edge curves and corners. We perform an alignment of the feature collection obtained from each detail with the 3d skeleton, in accordance with the architectural design. Our goal is to build a 2-manifold with a boundary at each corner of the 3d skeleton. Spanning ruled surfaces between neighbouring corner manifolds completes the final surface model. In this work we focus on the algorithm for constructing the corner manifolds: After the alignment of the feature collections with the 3d skeleton is performed, we calculate a rich descriptor, based on geometric relationship functions, for each feature. In addition, we construct its adjacency graph, containing all other features whose descriptor will change in case this feature is discarded. We then apply simultaneous procedural contraction to all feature collections affecting the same corner of the 3d model. In each step a preservation score is calculated for all features, based on their descriptors. The feature with the lowest score is discarded and the descriptors and adjacency graphs for all others recalculated. This contraction produces ruled surface segments that are eventually stitched together into a 2-manifold with a boundary. We evaluated the algorithm by building a prototype in MatLab and testing it on 170 detail combinations.

Keywords:
Astract: The digital transformation is having a huge impact on many sectors of the economy. Recently, it has gained momentum in the construction industry and in tunnelling in particular. This article explains the challenges associated with the digital transformation of tunnelling and how they are being addressed by a current research project. The project is an inter-university and interdisciplinary project with the aim of advancing digitalisation in tunnelling. The article discusses the topic using various use cases that demonstrate solutions to the current challenges.

Keywords: Building Information Modelling (BIM), Data Drops, digital transformation, Economic and legal issues, Employer's Information Requirement, General
Astract: In the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, as well as in the tunnelling domain, inter-company processes between partners in different roles in large-scale construction projects still exhibit great potential towards digitalisation. Thereby, information should be seamlessly shared between partners according to the Building Information Modelling (BIM) paradigm. Today, different types of artefacts (e.g., models, plans, documents, etc.) are shared at different points in time, which differ in terms of requirements, information content, as well as data formats. In this article, we extend and prototypically implement the concept of Data Drops to provide those artefacts in a digitalised form via a shared Data Drop management platform. For this purpose, we have developed a formal, well-defined indexed data structure on a metadata level. This not only facilitates traceability, but also enables searching for specific meta-information and provides a common view on Data Drops. In addition, a networked view between different drops can be provided. The approach is being evaluated on the use case of a real tunnel construction project.