Authors: Shiva Pooladvand, Hosein Taghaddos, Arash Eslami, Ala Nekouvaght Tak, Ulrich (Rick) Hermann

Abstract:

Cranes are one of the most critical and expensive pieces of construction industry equipment requiring intense safety considerations. Lifting crews should attempt to develop an effective lift plan to improve the operation’s safety and reduce the risks of potential accidents. Although various systems are developed to enhance lifting operations’ safety, most cannot evaluate the entire lifting process in an interactive visual environment. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting a crane simulator system developed in the virtual reality (VR) environment integrated with a database of comprehensive lift studies and a detailed crane path planning system. This interactive system evaluates the lift operation quantitatively in real time in terms of its safety and practicability for the entire operation (entire lift path). The developed system can be employed in practice by crane operators and lift engineers for various objectives, including gaining hands-on experience before the actual operation, enhancing engineered lift planning, increasing workplace awareness, and evaluating and mitigating lift-related risks. The proposed framework is validated through two scenarios in a modular construction project in Alberta, Canada.

Authors: Soroush Sobhkhiz, Hossein Taghaddos, Mojtaba Rezvani, Amir Mohammad Ramezanianpour

Abstract:

Currently, designers require to use numerous incomplete data sources and make multiple assumptions to conduct an LCA. We argue that traditional methods are incapable of addressing LCA data requirements, and for such a data and meta-data intensive task, the semantic web is the only logical choice of technology. This paper presents a review of the semantic web and its applications in the construction industry, along with an overview of the current LCA tools. LCA challenges are thoroughly discussed, and a framework using the semantic web is developed to address the data management issues of BIM-LCA applications. For comparison, the implementation is also done using an LCA tool (Tally), and a method using Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS). Results show that the proposed method is superior to RDBMS methods in terms of capturing semantics and can improve LCA tools by providing reliable data in the early design stages.

Authors: Ala Nekouvaght Tak, Hosein Taghaddos, Ali Mousaei, Anahita Bolourani, Ulrich Hermann

Abstract:

Heavy industrial construction, particularly when modularization is adopted, requires thorough heavy-lift studies to manage the extensive use of mobile cranes in congested and dynamic site layouts. This study introduces an integrated 4D crane simulation and onsite operation management framework for multiple concurrent mobile crane operations in the BIM environment with the support of a comprehensive database. Unlike similar recent efforts, the proposed framework is built upon previously developed crane planning and optimization systems, which enables generating accurate operation plans both in micro (objects) and macro scales (site). This framework addresses five different components regarding onsite crane operation management, including BIM-based multi-crane lift animation, scheduling and cost analyses, motion controlling in the BIM environment, safety monitoring and clash detection, and spatiotemporal site analyses. The developed framework’s functionality is validated by implementing it into a portion of a real project in Alberta, Canada, through three different cases.

Authors: Navid Kayhani, Hosein Taghaddos, Ali Mousaei, Saeed Behzadipour, Ulrich Hermann

Abstract:

Lift path planning is a significant subtask in constructability analysis, sequencing, and scheduling of congested industrial modular projects, impacting project cost, and safety. Although intuitive lift planning is still prevalent among the practitioners, this manual process might be tedious and error-prone for hundreds of lifts. This research presents an automated lift path planning method for heavy crawler cranes in no-walk scenarios employing a robotics approach. This method treats the lifted object as a three-degree-of-freedom convex mobile robot with discretized rotational and continuous translational motions. The proposed resolution-complete method models the crane capacity chart, tail-swing, and boom clearances as pseudo-obstacles in the lifted object’s configuration space. By reducing the lift path planning to a graph search problem, if any, the shortest path for the planar motion of the heavy-lift, along with its optimal pick-point, is identified. The developed heavy-lift path planning method is validated via two practical case studies.

Authors: S. Marzieh Bagheri, Hosein Taghaddos, Ali Mousaei, Farid Shahnavaz, Ulrich Hermann

Abstract:

Nowadays, the use of heavy mobile cranes in on-site construction of industrial projects has become inevitable. Due to the high rental cost of such cranes, an optimized plan is essential for the multiple crane lifts. This plan reduces the operating costs of the crane by minimizing waste time and lessens the potential of failures and accidents. However, developing an efficient lift plan can be challenging and time-consuming, considering the large number of lift options. This article presents a novel framework based on an informed search algorithm called A-star, which provides a semi-optimum lift plan based on a predetermined lifting sequence. This system talks to a comprehensive database to provide initial data. The proposed framework is applied successfully and validated in an actual modular construction project in Alberta, Canada. The results show a significant reduction in the total cost compared with the previously used lift planning algorithm.

Authors: Maedeh Taghaddos, Hosein Taghaddos, Ulrich Hermann (Rick), Yasser Mohamed, Simaan AbouRizk

Abstract:

Scheduling heavy industrial projects is challenging due to their size and complexity. Three-dimensional space and its discipline-specific tasks are an important asset in congested industrial sites, yet are not easily scheduled early in planning when detailed information is lacking. Although recent approaches have focused on enhancing space and crew management, effective scheduling of large-scale industrial projects with several interdependent constraints remains difficult. A comprehensive, hybrid planning framework capable of developing an efficient, high-level schedule accounting for uncertainties in bidding and execution is proposed. The framework employs simulation and optimization tools to determine best durations/modes in multi-mode activity networks and uses dynamic data adoption to continuously plan during project progression. The proposed framework uses historical information and expert opinion to automatically create a near-optimized schedule while considering various uncertainties. The proposed approach is tested and demonstrated with an illustrative example and an actual case study of industrial construction in Alberta, Canada.

Authors: Farid Shahnavaz, Hosein Taghaddos, Reza Sadeghi Najafabadi, Ulrich Hermann

Abstract:

Developing heavy-lift studies is a vital task in heavy congested industrial projects such as modular projects where it is necessary to lift modules with mobile cranes. However, preparing these lift studies can be time-consuming. Hence, automating this process is a great step in saving time, and reducing the percentage of errors, having the practitioner focus on lift planning rather than tedious tasks. A significant step in the pre-construction and construction phase of an industrial project is creating the 4D animation of lift processes. Such an animation develops a better understanding of the process and streamlines finding the best path for the mobile crane movements to avoid collisions. Such a 4D lift animation (i.e., simulation) can be a mandate when the lifting process is performed in a congested construction site involving more than one crane. This research study aims to propose a comprehensive framework for creating the 4D animation of a multi mobile crane lift process. The proposed approach can connect to a comprehensive model, in Building Information Modeling (BIM) terminologies, or can auto-generate the simplified CAD model containing the lifting objects (i.e., modules in modular construction) and obstructions by interacting with a central database. It can also auto-generate the 3D model of cranes in the set and pick positions. Then, the lift animation can be developed quickly in an automated manner by employing a customized Application Programming Interface (API). The developed API generates the lift animation of the cranes based on the defined timeline and lifting path by reading the required data (e.g., site information, modules information, cranes information, object models, and lift sequences) from the database. The proposed framework is validated by applying in a portion of a real modular industrial project in Alberta, Canada. The results show that the developed system has enough flexibility to simulate multi-mobile crane movements with various types of mobile cranes, multiple kinds of movements, and various site conditions.

Authors: Ala Nekouvaght Tak, Hosein Taghaddos, Ali Mousaei, Ulrich (Rick) Hermann

Abstract:

Modularization is becoming more popular in industrial construction to enhance various project management aspects, including time, cost, safety, quality, and productivity. Although many studies have highlighted the differences between modular and conventional (stick-built) construction, little research is conducted to evaluate alternative fabrication strategies (e.g., overseas versus local fabrication). Some practitioners prefer to build modules locally, while some others prefer to outsource the module fabrication overseas and ship them to the industrial plant. This dramatically affects the decision on the size of the module envelope, and in turn, many other associated factors. The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated framework to evaluate different module fabrication strategies. This study employs various automation tools (e.g., building information modeling (BIM), simulation modeling) to quantify the impact of module fabrication strategies on any selected industrial project. The proposed framework considers various project aspects such as shipment and handling, fabrication, lifting, module resizing, and module assembly yard to find the best fabrication strategy. An actual case study, part of an industrial plant in Alberta, Canada, is presented in this paper to elucidate research contributions.

اقبال شاکری، حسین تقدس، امیرحسین بابایی راوندی، وحید عباسیانفر
دومین کنفرانس بین المللی مدلسازی اطلاعات ساختمان