Alireza Golabchi

An Automated Biomechanical Simulation Approach to Ergonomic Job Analysis for Workplace Design

AbstractWork-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are reported to be the most common category of nonfatal occupational injuries that result in days away from work and are also a leading cause of temporary and permanent disability. One of the most effective approaches to preventing WMSDs is to evaluate ergonomics considerations early in the design and construction planning stage before the worker encounters the unsafe conditions. However, a lack of tools for identifying potential ergonomic risks in a proposed workplace design has led to difficulties in integrating safety and health into workplace design practice. In an effort to address this issue, this study explores a motion data-driven framework for ergonomic analysis that automates and visualizes the evaluation process in a virtual workplace. This is accomplished by coupling the ergonomic analysis with three-dimensional (3D) virtual visualization of the work environment. The proposed approach uses motion data from the 3D model of the jobsite to ev...

Automated building information modeling for fault detection and diagnostics in commercial HVAC systems

Purpose Organizations involved in facility management (FM) can use building information modeling (BIM) as a knowledge repository to document evolving facility information and to support decisions made by the facility managers during the operational life of a facility. Despite ongoing advances in FM technologies, FM practices in most facilities are still labor intensive, time consuming and often rely on unreliable and outdated information. To address these shortcomings, the purpose of this study is to propose an automated approach that demonstrates the potential of using BIM to develop algorithms that automate decision-making for FM applications. Design/methodology/approach A BIM plug-in tool is developed that uses a fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) algorithm to automate the process of detecting malfunctioning heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. The algorithm connects to a complaint ticket database and automates BIM to determine potentially damaged HVAC system components and develops a plan of action for the facility inspectors accordingly. The approach has been implemented as a case study in an operating facility to improve the process of HVAC system diagnosis and repair. Findings By implementing the proposed application in a case study, the authors found that automated BIM approaches such as the one developed in this study, can be highly beneficial in FM practices by increasing productivity and lowering costs associated with decision-making. Originality/value This study introduces an innovative approach that leverages BIM for automated fault detection in operational buildings. FM personnel in charge of HVAC inspection and repair can highly benefit from the proposed approach, as it eliminates the time required to locate HVAC equipment at fault manually.

Integration of predetermined motion time systems into simulation modeling of manual construction operations

Simulation modeling is a powerful tool widely used for designing construction processes and improving the efficiency of operations. However, there is often difficulty in estimating the duration of manual tasks for simulation purposes due to its dependence on the physical attributes of the worker performing the task. When designing a new process, there is usually a lack of sufficient data regarding the required duration for manual tasks, and in the case of evaluating and improving existing processes, there is no benchmark data for workers’ performance to enable comparison of the efficiency of the existing process. This study attempts to address this issue by exploring micro-motion-level simulation modeling in order to provide standard motion time required to perform a manual task for effective workplace design. The research method involves integrating a Predetermined Motion Time System (PMTS) into discrete event simulation, which provides the production planner with a standard task duration within which a worker must complete the task without delays or idling. As a case study, a manual task taking place in the production line of a construction steel fabrication company has been modeled using the developed automation tool in order to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach. The results show high correlation between the simulation model output and the actual time data from the jobsite and confirm the validity of the approach and its effectiveness in evaluating the productivity of the existing operations and providing detailed information for process improvement.

Stochastic Modeling for Assessment of Human Perception and Motion Sensing Errors in Ergonomic Analysis

AbstractWorkers in the construction industry are frequently exposed to physically demanding manual tasks with a high level of ergonomic risk. To prevent ergonomic injuries and disorders, posture-ba...