The project objectives includes, preparing the full structural design package for the whole plant including the operation tower in a grain silos complex. One of the prototype buildings is a 15-story reinforced concrete building. The project located in Saudi Arabia and designed according to the Saudi Building Codes. The original structural analysis model of the operation tower was created using the structural analysis program SAP2000.
The designers use different commercial structural analysis applications and different versions of the same application. Such applications have incompatible and inconsistent geometric and semantic representation of data. Furthermore, many problems are triggered while submitting the analytical model to a third-party consultant, due to using different software or missing the same software version.
The using of openBIM brought a significant value for enhancing the interoperability among structural analysis software applications to reduce work repetitions and probability of errors occurs. The smooth information exchange between software advances a key decision to improve best practices during collaborative work at an early design stage.
By using the openBIM, the project delivered on time due to the useful information exchange between the software.This provided accurate models and smooth workflow between the stakeholders. This is achieved by developing a web-based application, named Structural Analysis Model Converter (SAMC), which is developed to overcome the interoperability issues based on a unified Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) data model.
The project contents several buildings with different height and areas and various integrity.
The proposed model is a web-based application, named Structural Analysis Model Converter (SAMC), which is developed to overcome the interoperability issues based on a unified Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) data model. While developing SAMC tool, the adequacy of IFC schema in the structural analysis domain has been examined from the perspective of accuracy and completeness of information exchange among structural analysis applications.
The following processes are achieved by the proposed SAMC tool:
- Export/import IFC from/to SAP2000;
- Export/import IFC from/to STAAD Pro;
- Bi-directional conversion between SAP2000 and STAAD Pro.
Six process can be performed by the proposed SAMC tool based on IFC2x3 unified data model schema through a friendly user interface. Actually, the proposed tool has extended to more than six process due to the generic concept of the unified model. On other words, SAP2000 can export IFC2x3 format using SAMC tool which is applicable to import into another structural analysis software such as RFEM. The same procedure is also applicable for the IFC2x3 file exported from SPro using SAMC tool. This emphasizes that the IFC data model schema is generic for any structural analysis application that can be integrated in BIM environment and is the solution of the interoperability issues which is a challenge that faces the construction industry nowadays.
The validation of the proposed SAMC tool is carried out through online SAMC tool web site using thirty-six structural models examples. the URL for the developed SAMC tool is under: http://samc3.azurewebsites.net
The work efforts has been published in ASCE library in 2020 under title of "Web-Based Tool for Interoperability among Structural Analysis Applications".
URL: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%29CO.1943-7862.0001840
In the traditional way of information converting, the sender software develops direct converting in two way information exchange (export/import) to all individual applications which need to produce a direct mapping between the internal schema of the sender software and the target format of the destination software provided no common open standard exist. On the other hand, if an open standard can be used instead, the mapping process need to convert the data into a single format which is combatable with the other receiver software.
The proposed SAMC ISO-based interoperability is built on IFC schema (IFC2x3) in order to be generalized for any structural analysis application that is willing to join the BIM-based workflow and to be ISO/IFC certified within buildingSMART community. It is seen as an added value for the efforts of electronic submission of construction permit documents. The challenge of bidirectional conversion between BIM models and in particular among structural analysis applications is taken up by the SAMC tool developed. This effort contributes to streamline the flow of information within a BIM-based project and to eliminate the inefficiencies related to the need to recreate or modify models which were already created in the previous stages. In addition, structural engineers and developers can depend on the IFC scheme as validated in the proposed SAMC tool to share and exchange the information.
it is required to performed more development in IFC schema to include missing entities such as the classification and combination of different loads such as pre-stressed loads and dynamic loads, in addition to elements restraint conditions. This can be realized by adding new classes, attributes as well as property sets.
