Digital twins for concrete building construction processes
(English) This dissertation primarily investigates the use of Digital Twin (DT) technology to enhance construction management in concrete buildings, offering an end-to-end analysis of related workflows, tools, and frameworks. It contributes to the academic field by addressing identified research cha...
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| Formato: | tesis doctoral |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/449769 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/449769 https://dx.doi.org/10.5821/dissertation-2117-449769 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Digital Twins IFC IoT Structural Analysis Knowledge Graphs Construction Management Computational Design 624 - Enginyeria civil i de la construcció en general 69 - Materials de construcció. Pràctiques i procediments de construcció Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria civil Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Edificació |
| Resumo: | (English) This dissertation primarily investigates the use of Digital Twin (DT) technology to enhance construction management in concrete buildings, offering an end-to-end analysis of related workflows, tools, and frameworks. It contributes to the academic field by addressing identified research challenges and supporting the advancement of DT technology both theoretically and practically. The dissertation explores the foundational concepts underpinning DTs, providing a review of their conceptual development and evolution in recent years within the construction industry. It identifies and elaborates on key technological enablers crucial to this research: i) OpenBIM (IFC standard), ii) Computational Design, iii) Internet of Things (IoT), iv) knowledge graph databases, and v) human-twin interfaces (DT platforms). Particular attention is given to the current state and challenges of integrating structural analysis into DT frameworks. A real-world case study anchors the research: the construction of a concrete office building. Through this empirical approach, six twinning information pipelines were developed, aiming to establish data flow from construction site measurements to actionable insights. These pipelines were crucial for identifying four research challenges addressed in this research: A) How can multi-layered information related to concrete construction be generated, prepared, and streamlined while ensuring accuracy and interoperability for DTs? B) What roles and workflows should stakeholders adopt to enable coordinated DT implementation? C) How can structural analysis be effectively integrated into DT systems in a scalable and interoperable manner? D) What kind of system architecture can unify diverse data layers and information pipelines to support right-time, data-driven decision-making? Research challenge A is addressed through a software development: MatchFEM. Conceived as a plugin within a computational design tool, MatchFEM streamlines the often fragmented processes of 4D IFC-BIM modeling, IoT data integration, and structural analysis by unifying them within a single parametric environment. The plugin follows a visual programming paradigm, thus simplifying the generation and preparation of DT data. The second research challenge encompasses a general mind map and two complementary workflows. They delineate the essential job roles involved in the creation and operation of DTs during building construction. Moreover, a conceptual framework for the emerging role of the DT Manager is proposed, highlighting their importance in coordinating and overseeing all DT-related activities. Furthermore, to bridge the gap between structural analysis and DT ecosystems, research challenge C, two novel data models are introduced: O-SAM (Open Structural Analysis Models), a JSON schema for encoding and transferring structural simulation data via web-based platforms, and SSO (Structural Simulation Ontology), an ontology designed to represent O-SAM data as a graph, enabling its integration within knowledge graph-based DTs. To knit all these proposals, a comprehensive DT system connected to real-time structural simulations during concrete construction is presented. This system addresses research challenge D and consolidates the knowledge, tools, and frameworks developed throughout the dissertation. The implementation of knowledge graphs as a central linking framework is emphasized, alongside the development of a human-twin interface that delivers Performance Indicators to Construction Managers. The system is validated through a prototype implementation, which incorporates an exemplary construction management workflow: the Maturity Method for concrete slabs. The dissertation concludes by reflecting on findings and contributions to the field, discussing limitations encountered, and outlining avenues for future research, envisioning DTs as data-driven assistants that enhance productivity and sustainability in the construction sector. |
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