5 research outputs found

    A framework for BIM-based assessment of seismic performance of existing RC buildings

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    Dissertação de mestrado em European Master in Building Information ModellingDespite the mature state of BIM software in the context of structural design, particularly in concern to the desirable interoperability between BIM authoring tools and structural design software, there is still a technical/research gap in the scope of the exchange of competent data towards a seismic analysis of existing buildings (e.g. following the recommendations of Eurocode 8 – Part 3). This dissertation aimed to develop a BIM-based framework to facilitate the process of seismic analysis of existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, through a streamlined set of modelling rules and interoperability between Autodesk Revit (BIM authoring tool) and SeismoStruct (seismic analysis software). This is achieved through a visual programming script developed in Dynamo. The developed script is able to export geometry, sections, material properties, supports as well as the reinforcement data for structural columns and beams. Furthermore, as infill walls can play a significant contribution to the seismic capacity of the building, they are also considered in the framework. This is considered an important contribution of this framework, as infill walls are normally ignored in the usual design office during a seismic assessment of existing buildings. The interoperability script is able to query the necessary information from the BIM model and export it to an XML (Extensible Mark-up Language) that can be directly recognized by the seismic analysis software. The non-linear static analysis (i.e. pushover analysis) is then performed in Seismostruct. Based on the capacity curves obtained from the pushover analysis for the structure with and without infill walls, the conclusions about the effectiveness of infill wall in RC structures can be made. Upon preparation of the framework, its operational capacity was assessed on an academic-oriented example of a regular 4 storey building. Lastly, the developed framework/script was tested and evaluated on a case study based on a real building, with some degree of irregularity. The seismic capacity of the building was evaluated using pushover analysis, with an evaluation of the beneficial effects of consideration of infill walls. It was concluded that the framework operated in a suitable manner, allowing the quick translation of data from the BIM authoring tool towards the seismic analysis software, thus permitting the structural engineers to concentrate on design tasks rather than repetitive and error-prone activities of parsing information between software. Two special features are highlighted in concern to the original contributions of the developed framework/script: (i) it allows the easy consideration of infill walls in the BIM model and hence in the seismic calculation, thus allowing more realistic assessments; (ii) a method to input reinforcement data based on non-graphical data was proposed, facilitating the quickness of the input of information to the BIM model (and hence to the seismic analysis) as compared to the alternative need to model all reinforcement bars of the building.Apesar do estado de elevada maturidade dos software BIM no contexto do projeto de estruturas, particularmente no que diz respeito à desejável interoperabilidade entre plataformas de modelação BIM e aplicações para análise/dimensionamento estrutural, há ainda lacunas técnicas importantes no contexto das trocas de informação competentes no contexto particular da análise sísmica de edifícios existentes (p.ex. em coerência com as recomendações do Eurocódigo 8 – parte 3). Nesta dissertação pretendeu-se desenvolver uma metodologia baseada em BIM para facilitar o processo de análise sísmica de edifícios existentes em betão armado (BA), através dum conjunto de regras de modelação e ferramenta de interoperabilidade entre Autodesk Revit (plataforma de modelação BIM) e SeismoStruct (aplicação de análise estrutural). Para isso, foi utilizado um código em linguagem de programação visual desenvolvido em Dynamo. O código desenvolvido é capaz de exportar geometria, secções, propriedades de materiais, apoios e dados sobre a armadura nos pilares e vigas. Além disso, tendo em conta que as paredes de enchimento podem ter um papel relevante no contributo para o desempenho sísmico dos edifícios, a sua existência é considerada de forma explícita na metodologia aqui proposta. Esta é considerada uma contribuição importante desta metodologia, uma vez que as paredes de enchimento são normalmente ignoradas na prática corrente de avaliação de desempenho sísmico de edifícios em contexto de gabinetes de projeto. O código de interoperabilidade proposto é capaz de analisar a informação necessária do modelo BIM e exportá-la no formato XML (Extensible Mark-up Language), que é reconhecido diretamente pelo software de análise sísmica utilizado. A análise não linear estática (i.e. análise pushover) é seguidamente realizada no SeismoStruct. Com base nas curvas de capacidade obtidas na análise pushover, e tendo em conta a análise de cenários com e sem paredes de enchimento, é possível tirar ilações sobre o comportamento sísmico dos edifícios e do papel dessas mesmas paredes. Durante a preparação da metodologia, a sua capacidade operacional foi validada num exemplo académico de um edifício regular de 4 pisos. Finalmente, a metodologia desenvolvida foi testada e avaliada num caso de estudo baseado em edifício real, com algum grau de irregularidade. A capacidade sísmica do edifício foi aferida com análise pushover, com avaliação dos benefícios da consideração das paredes de enchimento. Concluiu-se que a metodologia funcionou de forma adequada, permitindo a rápida transposição de dados da plataforma de modelação BIM para o software de análise sísmica, permitindo, portanto que os Engenheiros de Estruturas se concentrem em tarefas de projeto/engenharia, em vez de investirem tempo em tarefas repetitivas e suscetíveis a erro na troca de informação manual entre software. Relevam-se as duas características especiais que se afiguram como as contribuições mais originais da metodologia desenvolvida no presente trabalho: (i) permite a consideração facilitada das paredes de enchimento na análise sísmica a partir de informação do modelo BIM, conduzindo a análises mais realistas (em oposição à tendência corrente de ignorar as paredes de enchimento); (ii) é proposto um método de modelação das armaduras baseado em informação não gráfica, facilitando a rapidez da introdução de informação no modelo BIM (e consequentemente na análise sísmica), quando comparado com a potencial alternativa de modelar todas as armaduras do edifício

    Information lifecycle management in Structural Engineering BIM, openBIM and Blockchain technology to digitise and re-engineer structural safety information management processes

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    Over the past decade, the building information modelling (BIM) approach has increasingly been used in both professional practice and research relating to the fields of civil and structural engineering. Indeed, it has been adopted across the globe, with some governments demanding its use in public projects involving bridges, tunnels and railways, as well as for strategic facilities like hospitals and schools. In Europe, most countries comply with Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on public procurements, which allows such clients to demand the use of BIM methodologies. Some countries, meanwhile, have decided to enforce digital delivery; for example, the United Kingdom has required the use of BIM in all government projects since 2016, while the Italian government published a timeline in 2018 mandating the use of BIM methodologies in all construction work by 2025. As a consequence, companies involved in the AEC sector are embracing the BIM approach by employing new tools and workflows, even though they face obstacles in relation to issues like training costs and time or low initial productivity. BIM-based workflows, innovative tools and collaboration platforms can be employed throughout the lifecycle of an asset, and have been the catalyst for innovation in the entire architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. However, the BIM approach does not have its own agenda for research purposes only, but this has one in applied research with the purpose of aiding professional practice. Thus, this thesis will address the use of BIM in structural engineering not for the sake of the research itself, but with the practical intent of summarizing and presenting the current experience of the use of BIM in structural engineering and then contributing to expanding knowledge about the possible uses of BIM in this regard. This thesis proposes innovative processes for the lifecycle information management of information that refers to the discipline of structural engineering. The proposed processes are based on the BIM approach, an information management framework that allows to standardise information flows using processes that implement tools such as BIM-authoring software, BIM tools and collaboration platforms. In detail, the BIM-based processes here proposed are in the number of three and refer, respectively, to the authorization phase, the testing and closeout phase, and the operation and maintenance phase of the lifecycle of a facility. A further novelty of this work is investigating the use of the open format industry foundation classes (IFC) in the processes that refer to the authorization phase and the operation and maintenance phase, and the use of blockchain technology in the testing and closeout phase. The first aim of this thesis, therefore, is to start bridging that gap by 1) providing the first state-of-the-art on the use of BIM in structural engineering. Additionally, this thesis is original in that it addresses the production, management, and storage of information that pertains to structural engineering. Accordingly, this work aims at: 2) Proposing an open BIM-based process for the application for seismic authorization, in Italian 'autorizzazione sismica' (authorization phase). 3) Proposing a proof-of-concept for the integration of blockchain technology and smart contract into information flows among common data environments (CDEs) in the construction process of structural systems (testing and closeout phase). 4) Proposing an open BIM-based process for the operation and maintenance phase of structures

    An integrated computational approach for seismic risk assessment of individual buildings

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    The simultaneous assessment of a great number of buildings subjected to different ground motions is a very challenging task. For this reason, a new computational integrated approach for seismic assessment of individual buildings is presented, which consists of several independent computer objects, each having its own user interface, yet being totally interconnectable like in a puzzle. The hazard module allows considering a code-based response spectrum or a predicted response spectrum for a given earthquake scenario, which is computed throughout the resolution of an optimization problem. The vulnerability of each building is assessed based on structural capacity curves. Damage is evaluated using an innovative proposal, which is to use what was called a performance curve associated with a capacity curve. This curve reproduces the percentage of a given response spectrum corresponding to a performance point for each displacement value of a capacity curve. Therefore, it becomes possible to do a very fast association of any limit state to a percentage of a seismic action. This approach was implemented in the PERSISTAH software, and the result outputs can be exported, instantaneously, to the Google Earth software throughout the creation of a kml file, or to MS Excel.This research was funded by INTERREG-POCTEP España-Portugal program and the European Regional Development Fund, grant number 0313_PERSISTAH_5_P.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Digital workflows for the management of existing structures in the pre- and post-earthquake phases: BIM, CDE, drones, laser-scanning and AI

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    La metodologia BIM, sviluppata in America negli anni '70, ha rivoluzionato l'industria delle costruzioni introducendo i principi di innovazione e digitalizzazione per la gestione dei progetti, in un settore settore produttivo troppo legato a logiche tradizionali. I numerosi processi digitali che sono stati sviluppati da allora hanno riguardato in gran parte la progettazione di nuovi edifici, e sono principalmente legati alla disciplina del construction management. Alcune prime sperimentazioni condotte nel tempo hanno mostrato come l'estensione di questa metodologia agli edifici esistenti comporti molte difficoltà. In questo panorama, il lavoro di tesi si concentra sulla gestione delle strutture nella fase pre e post-sisma con l'obiettivo di sviluppare processi digitali basati sull'uso di tecnologie innovative applicate sia agli edifici ordinari che a quelli storici. Il primo workflow sviluppato, relativo alla fase pre-sisma, è stato denominato scan-to-FEM, ed è finalizzato a particolarizzare il classico processo scan-to-BIM nel campo dell'ingegneria strutturale, analizzando così tutti i passaggi dal rilievo dell'edificio con le tecniche digitali di fotogrammetria e laser-scanning fino all'analisi strutturale e alla valutazione della sicurezza nei confronti delle azioni sismiche. I processi di gestione delle strutture post-sisma sono invece incentrati sulla stima della sicurezza della struttura e sulla definizione delle strategie di intervento, e si basano sull'analisi delle caratteristiche intrinseche della struttura e dei danni indotti dagli eventi sismici. L'intero processo di valutazione del livello operativo di un edificio è stato quindi rivisto alla luce delle moderne tecnologie digitali. Nel dettaglio, sono state sviluppate Reti Neurali Convoluzionali (CNN) per la crack detection, e l'estrazione delle informazioni numeriche associate alle lesioni, gestite poi grazie ai modelli BIM. I quadri fessurativi sono stati digitalizzati grazie allìintroduzione un nuovo oggetto BIM "lesione" (attualmente non codificato nello standard IFC), al quale è stato aggiunto un set di parametri in parte valutati con le CNN ed in parte qualitativi. Durante lo sviluppo di questi processi, sono stati sviluppati nuovi strumenti adhoc per la gestione degli edifici esistenti. In particolare, sono state definite specifiche per lo sviluppo di schede tecniche digitali dei danni, e per la creazione del nuovo oggetto BIM "lesione". I processi di gestione degli edifici danneggiati, grazie agli sviluppi tecnologici realizzati, sono stati applicati per la digitalizzazione dell'edificio storico della chiesa di San Pietro in Vinculis danneggiato a seguito di eventi sismici, grazie ai quali sono stati sperimentati i massimi benefici in termini di riduzione di tempo e risparmio di risorse

    Nondestructive Testing (NDT)

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    The aim of this book is to collect the newest contributions by eminent authors in the field of NDT-SHM, both at the material and structure scale. It therefore provides novel insight at experimental and numerical levels on the application of NDT to a wide variety of materials (concrete, steel, masonry, composites, etc.) in the field of Civil Engineering and Architecture
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