TOWARDS INFORMED DESIGN DECISION SUPPORT OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN CONSTRUCTION - THE USE OF INTEGRATED KNOWLEDGE IN BIM-BASED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies have great potential to promote sustainable development in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) domain. But the inherent complexity of AM and lack of domain knowledge hinder decisions about appropriate construction methods. With state-of-the-art Semantic Web technologies, a knowledge base regarding AM technologies can be formalized and integrated into the Building Information Modeling (BIM) methodology. To this end, this paper demonstrates how a Design Decision Support System (DDSS) utilizes formal knowledge to assist architects in choosing the appropriate AM method by assessing the manufacturability of individual building components. By following and refining the essential activities described, we aim to provide architects with informed decision support, thus facilitating the versatile use of AM technologies in the AEC domain