PSI - Issue 64

Iryna Rudenko et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 64 (2024) 1216–1223 I. Rudenko and Y. Petryna / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

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1. Introduction The broad use of digital methods in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry contributes to sustainability as well as durability of structures. One of these methods is the Building Information Modeling (BIM). According to Borrmann et al. (2018), BIM models are typically created, managed and used for design, project management, construction and facility management. Digital building models usually contain geometric as well as semantic information. Geometric information describes the geometry of a component, for example, width, height and area of a beam cross-section. Semantic information includes non-geometric properties of a component, such as name and material. BIM already helps in the design process, for example, to detect contradictions between different models from various project stakeholders, for quantity determination and derivation of plans. Moreover, a BIM model could generally serve as a primary source of any required information on building construction, including the finite element (FE) models or monitoring systems as well. Thus, the interaction between BIM and FE models is of great importance for structural engineering as it helps increase productivity and minimize mistakes due to human factors. Certainly, FE models of different complexity and element dimensionality are required for the same structure in view of various structural or material limit states. For example, a FE model of the entire system with beam elements is sufficient for stability analysis of a typical steel hall construction. In contrast, a detailed 3D model with solid elements is usually required to analyze a welded connection of a crane bracket at certain local position within the structure. A lot of software vendors provide corresponding interfaces to transfer the data between BIM and FE software. However, there is no generally valid method for establishing FE models based on the BIM model, especially allowing the user to vary their complexity and element dimensionality. Furthermore, with the help of structural health monitoring (SHM) and non-destructive testing (NDT), it should be possible to update BIM and FE models to the current state of the structure and to predict the remaining service life. This contribution describes the development of an approach that allows FE models of different complexity and element dimensionality to be consistently extracted from the same BIM model. The focus lies on the openBIM technology, that ensures better interoperability, accessibility as well as flexibility of digital data in AEC industry. The basis of openBIM are vendor-neutral data transfer formats, such as the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). In the following, both the concept of a BIM-based SHM as well as the method to extract FE models from the BIM model based on IFC will be explained. Finally, the method will be illustrated on a laboratory test structure. One of the recent developments in the SHM is a versatile usage of BIM technology. For example, Theiler and Smarsly (2018) proposed an IFC extension for modeling structural health monitoring systems called “IFC Monitor”. Hartung et al. (2020) introduced a concept for BIM-based maintenance of engineering structures with monitoring systems. To link the inspection on a structure as well as monitoring data with digital building models, the shBIM platform was established. Furthermore, this concept includes permanent analysis of sensor data, structural condition forecast and recommendations for action. Li et al. (2022) developed a bridge visualization system for SHM based on BIM technology using Revit and MATLAB. The proposed bridge health monitoring system consists of four modules: BIM model setup, monitoring information visualization, monitoring database management and monitoring report. Fawad et al. (2023) focused on BIMification of the SHM system. This approach allows the SHM system to be managed and controlled automatically since it is linked to the BIM model. The sensors were deployed to the BIM model of a bridge and the measurement data could be accessed as well as visualized remotely. Moreover, this study addressed the need of an automatic BIM-based FE model generation. The geometry from the BIM model in Revit was transformed into the topology of the FE model using Visual Programming Language (VPL) scripts and saved to a file in the syntax of CADINP language. Unfortunately, the material assignment and load application based on the BIM model were not considered in this approach. Gragnaniello et al. (2024) introduced a BIM-based design and setup of SHM systems with the help of IFC. 2. BIM-based SHM concept 2.1. Related literature overview