Parametric design of pipe bridges: a case of automation and optimization in structural design

Parametric design has demonstrated in recent years its ability to revolutionize the construction world, especially in the design phase, where a large number of changes take place. In this context, a Grasshopper script originally developed by Baptiste Woerli, and later continued by Joel Wahlstein and...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Boned Ferrer, Sergi
Tipo de recurso: tesis de maestría
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/397634
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/397634
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Bridges--Design and construction
Parametric modeling
Model theory
Grasshopper
RFEM
parametric design
optimization
pipe bridge
Ponts--Disseny i construcció
Models, Teoria dels
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria civil::Materials i estructures::Tipologies estructurals
Descripción
Sumario:Parametric design has demonstrated in recent years its ability to revolutionize the construction world, especially in the design phase, where a large number of changes take place. In this context, a Grasshopper script originally developed by Baptiste Woerli, and later continued by Joel Wahlstein and Andreas Granberg, regarding parametric design of pipe bridges in industry, is further developed. Therefore, the Grasshopper plug-in Parametric FEM Toolbox developed by Diego Apellániz is implemented in the script to export all data related to the pipe bridge to RFEM 5, carry out the corresponding finite element calculations there, and import the desired results back to Grasshopper automatically. In addition, a component able to perform the design of single foundations according to Eurocode and the Swedish national annex developed by Sweco, the company with which the thesis is carried out, is combined with the implementation of a multi-objective optimization process using the Wallacei X plug-in to determine the optimal dimensions of the foundations of the structure that minimize cost and CO2 emissions. The results extracted from the RFEM 5 implementation show that the data exchange with Grasshopper is successfully achieved, allowing the correct export of most of the options and alternatives offered by the script, with the exception only of the presence of different pipe bridge sections running in parallel, and the design of structural members, which are expected to be implemented in future studies. In the case of the foundation design optimization, the penalty functions defined and the absence of null values after the optimization process indicate that this implementation works correctly too. Therefore, it can be concluded that the main objectives of this work have been satisfactorily fulfilled, with both implementations being robust.