Thesis-2003-Ganah.pdf (11.43 MB)
Computer visualisation support for buildability
thesis
posted on 2015-04-29, 14:01 authored by Abdulkadir A.M. GanahThe construction industry has a reputation for low productivity, waste, low use of new
technologies, and poor quality (Egan, 1998; Wakefield & Damrienant, 1999). It is
estimated that up to 30% of construction is rework, and recognised that site teams
spend too much time and effort making designs work in practice (Egan, 1998). The
aim of the research project was to develop a visualisation and communication
environment that would assist design teams in communicating design details that may
be problematic for construction teams. The investigation was based on the need for a
tool that facilitates detail design information communication. The VISCON
(computer visualisation support for buildability) environment provides support for
general information sharing in the context of a collaborative building project. This
prototype is Web based and can be accessed from any location. This will allow for
construction information to be readily communicated and shared between head offices
and construction sites and any other locations to provide better visualisation of design
details. Three scenarios were developed as case studies for demonstration purposes
based on real projects. These case studies used a paper factory, a bay barrage building
and a swimming pool recently constructed at Loughborough University. In the
development of the case studies, 3D models were produced using components from
the selected prototype buildings that may inherently be difficult to assemble. The
VISCON prototype demonstrates the various functionalities of the system in creating
intricate design details that can be animated or interacted with in real time.
The main achievements of the research are:
The review of buildability problems and their causes during the construction
stage of a facility;
The development of an architecture for a computer visualisation tool for
buildability (VISCON);
Implementation and validation of the proposed system (VISCON) through the
use of a number of case studies. The system was found to be useful and
demonstrated that computer visualisation tools provide considerable potential
in improving clarity of information and also a new way of visualising and
solving design problems that arise during the construction stage of a project. It
also demonstrated the ease of use of the proposed system, and its efficiency
and application to the construction industry.
The research concludes that the use of computer visualisation can improve the
construction project delivery process by providing guidance on how components are
assembled together and how buildability problems can be solved during the
construction stage. Furthermore, the use of effective communication tools will
improve collaboration between construction and design practitioners.
History
School
- Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
Publisher
© Abdulkadir GanahPublisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Publication date
2003Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.Language
- en