Construction safety and digital design: a review

As digital technologies become widely used in designing buildings and infrastructure, questions arise about their impacts on construction safety. This review explores relationships between construction safety and digital design practices with the aim of fostering and directing further research. It surveys state-of-the-art research on databases, virtual reality, geographic information systems, 4D CAD, building information modeling and sensing technologies, finding various digital tools for addressing safety issues in the construction phase, but few tools to support design for construction safety. It also considers a literature on safety critical, digital and design practices that raises a general concern about ‘mindlessness’ in the use of technologies, and has implications for the emerging research agenda around construction safety and digital design. Bringing these strands of literature together suggests new kinds of interventions, such as the development of tools and processes for using digital models to promote mindfulness through multi-party collaboration on safet

A Thick Industrial Design Studio Curriculum

This presentation was part of the session : Pedagogy: Procedures, Scaffolds, Strategies, Tactics24th National Conference on the Beginning Design StudentThis paper describes an industrial design studio course based in a private university in Izmir, Turkey where second year industrial design students, for the first time, engage in a studio project. The design studio course emphasises three distinct areas of competence in designing that are the focus of the curriculum. They are; design process: the intellectual act of solving a design problem; design concept: the imagination and sensibility to conceive of appropriate design ideas; and presentation: the ability to clearly and evocatively communicate design concepts. The studio is 'thick' with materials, tasks and activities that are intentionally sequenced to optimise learning in a process that is known as educational 'scaffolding.' The idea of a process--a patient journey toward it's destination, is implicit in the studio that is full of opportunities for reflection-in-action. A significant feature is the importance placed on drawing and model making. An exemplary design process should show evidence of 'breadth'--meaning a wide search for solutions where a range of alternatives explored throughout; followed by an incremental refinement of the chosen solution where elements of the final design concept are developed thoroughly and in detail--called 'depth.' Learning to design is predicated on an engagement in and manipulation of the elements of the design problem. Evidence of that learning will be found by examining the physical materials and results of the design process. The assessment criteria are published with the brief at the outset of design project and outcomes are spelt out at the end. Students are remind throughout project of the criteria, which is to say they are reminded of pedagogical aims of the studio. Assessment criteria are detailed and the advantages of summative assessment are described

Development of Bridge Information Model (BrIM) for digital twinning and management using TLS technology

In the current modern era of information and technology, the concept of Building Information Model (BIM), has made revolutionary changes in different aspects of engineering design, construction, and management of infrastructure assets, especially bridges. In the field of bridge engineering, Bridge Information Model (BrIM), as a specific form of BIM, includes digital twining of the physical asset associated with geometrical inspections and non-geometrical data, which has eliminated the use of traditional paper-based documentation and hand-written reports, enabling professionals and managers to operate more efficiently and effectively. However, concerns remain about the quality of the acquired inspection data and utilizing BrIM information for remedial decisions in a reliable Bridge Management System (BMS) which are still reliant on the knowledge and experience of the involved inspectors, or asset manager, and are susceptible to a certain degree of subjectivity. Therefore, this research study aims not only to introduce the valuable benefits of Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) as a precise, rapid, and qualitative inspection method, but also to serve a novel sliced-based approach for bridge geometric Computer-Aided Design (CAD) model extraction using TLS-based point cloud, and to contribute to BrIM development. Moreover, this study presents a comprehensive methodology for incorporating generated BrIM in a redeveloped element-based condition assessment model while integrating a Decision Support System (DSS) to propose an innovative BMS. This methodology was further implemented in a designed software plugin and validated by a real case study on the Werrington Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge in New South Wales, Australia. The finding of this research confirms the reliability of the TLS-derived 3D model in terms of quality of acquired data and accuracy of the proposed novel slice-based method, as well as BrIM implementation, and integration of the proposed BMS into the developed BrIM. Furthermore, the results of this study showed that the proposed integrated model addresses the subjective nature of decision-making by conducting a risk assessment and utilising structured decision-making tools for priority ranking of remedial actions. The findings demonstrated acceptable agreement in utilizing the proposed BMS for priority ranking of structural elements that require more attention, as well as efficient optimisation of remedial actions to preserve bridge health and safety

Study of Finite Elements-based reliability and maintenance algorithmic methodologies analysis applied to aircraft structures and design optimization

This thesis presents the development of a research methodology oriented to the analysis of an aircraft structure in terms of operational reliability and maintainability requirements regarding its airworthiness. The study has been focused on modern commercial aircraft models, carrying out a market research and model selection according to different criteria. The study then develops a practical implementation consisting of the design approach of the aircraft airframe and main structural components for its subsequent numerical analysis and simulation. The numerical simulations will be computed by application of the Finite Elements Method on the main structural systems of the aircraft and establishment of boundary conditions. These simulations will allow the development of a computational study on linear, non-linear, and transient simulations of static loads, buckling, modal analysis, temperature, fatigue and thermal stress of individual structures and full assembly in different conditions. Finally, these results will be assessed and exported to a Matlab code which will compute an algorithmic methodology in order to approach the operational reliability and safety of the aircraft in the studied conditions. The thesis will conclude with a review of airworthiness regulations a proposal of research paths and further development of the methodology implemented

How to ask sensitive questions in conservation: A review of specialized questioning techniques

Tools for social research are critical for developing an understanding of conservation problems and assessing the feasibility of conservation actions. Social surveys are an essential tool frequently applied in conservation to assess both people’s behaviour and to understand its drivers. However, little attention has been given to the weaknesses and strengths of different survey tools. When topics of conservation concern are illegal or otherwise sensitive, data collected using direct questions are likely to be affected by non-response and social desirability biases, reducing their validity. These sources of bias associated with using direct questions on sensitive topics have long been recognised in the social sciences but have been poorly considered in conservation and natural resource management. We reviewed specialized questioning techniques developed in a number of disciplines specifically for investigating sensitive topics. These methods ensure respondent anonymity, increase willingness to answer, and critically, make it impossible to directly link incriminating data to an individual. We describe each method and report their main characteristics, such as data requirements, possible data outputs, availability of evidence that they can be adapted for use in illiterate communities, and summarize their main advantages and disadvantages. Recommendations for their application in conservation are given. We suggest that the conservation toolbox should be expanded by incorporating specialized questioning techniques, developed specifically to increase response accuracy. By considering the limitations of each survey technique, we will ultimately contribute to more effective evaluations of conservation interventions and more robust policy decisions

A design framework for agile virtual enterprise collaboration

The market in which engineering companies must operate is increasingly turbulent and unpredictable, largely due to the global nature of the engineering industry in the 21st century. This turbulent environment is further exacerbated by the increasing focus on customisation for individual consumers, rather than the mass manufacturing market of the past. In order to thrive in this turbulent environment companies are increasingly focussing on their core competences, and building strategic alliances with complementary partner companies to satisfy the overall needs of an individual project. This is true of the design as well as manufacturing stages of product development. The increasing levels of collaboration and the requirement for companies to be agile in their response to unexpected events are the background to this research. Specifically, this research addressed the ability of collaborating groups of companies to respond to unexpected events during the design stages of product development. The hypothesis was that through the specific implementation of a novel collection of tools and techniques the agility of collaborative design projects can be increased. A multi-method approach was adopted for the research, beginning with an industrial survey identifying those tools and techniques from the literature which are linked to an increased level of agility. These results form the basis for the definition of the Agile Design Framework which takes the form of a series of implementation steps carried out by a collaborative design team to put in place tools and techniques for increasing their responsiveness to unexpected events. The second stage of the research tested the Agile Design Framework in a controlled laboratory environment with both an experimental and control group undertaking the same collaborative design project. Unexpected events were introduced and the responses of both groups are analysed. The experiment group using the Agile Design Framework had a Key Agility Index score of 0.04 compared with a score of 0.13 for the control group. A low score on the Key Agility Index indicates a higher level of agility while high scores tending to 1 have a lower agility level. The results supported further calibration of the Agile Design Framework for the final stage of the research which was an implementation of the framework in industry for a real-life collaborative design project. This industrial implementation showed an improvement in the agility of the collaborative design project using the Agile Design Framework, improving the Key Agility Index from 0.54 to 0.43.The research makes three novel contributions to knowledge in this field. The first is the Agile Design Framework which is a set of tools and techniques with a specific implementation process, which has been shown to increase agility for collaborative design projects. Secondly, a four-level classification scheme for unexpected events will be presented which allows categorisation of unexpected events into Trivial, Minor, Major and fatal, based on specific criteria. Finally, through the use of easily obtainable data the Key Agility Index is validated as a meaningful quantitative metric for the measurement of agility at the project or departmental level

How to Teach Mechanical Engineering Design Using Industry Methods While Still Assessing to University Criteria

There is a growing demand from industry for qualified design engineers. Many design engineers are trained in industry at vast expense in time and money, while many more are trained at universities and colleges. This thesis will explore how to maintain the training by universities and colleges to be as up to date and relevant as possible. It will look at the modern techniques and methods such as design teams, use of computer software, communication, use of the internet, and methods to solve design problems. All these techniques and methods are used by world-leading industries during the 21st century; this century, known also as the Third Industrial Revolution, or the Information Technology Revolution. It will show how appropriate techniques and methods can be applied in academia. A challenge is highlighted, and a solution found, how to get students to design to modern industry standards but at the same time make it possible to assess their work to satisfy the needs of academia and achieve the awarding criteria. Modern techniques and methods will be applied to university students and an assessment made of the results. Use of group working will be explored, and an algorithm developed to grade the completed work. What do students need now, to equip them to become competent designers, and how do lecturers support these students in these new methods? A knowledge gap between full-time students and part-time students in their final year of a degree programme was identified. This gap was reduced by reviewing the curriculum from earlier years and specifically targeting improving the student’s knowledge. To reduce the gap further, the development of a new teaching theory based on reverse engineering and a reversed application of Bloom’s Taxonomy was developed. This new teaching theory was applied to engineering student in their final year of a BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering Degree. The above methods and theories were validated by experienced industry design engineers from world leading companies