Takashi Aruga

Development and Application of a Product Model for Shield Tunnels

Building Information Modeling is a prevailing methodology in the building industry and half (by length) of the worlds shield tunnels are in Japan. Accordingly, for shield tunnels from 2005 to 2007, we developed a product model called IFC-ShieldTunnel, which is based on Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), in order to meet the future demand for such a product model. IFC-ShieldTunnel was developed by adding new elements that are specific to shield tunnels and that are not included in the original IFC. The added elements include shafts, segments (A, B, and K types), waterproofing elements, segment joint elements, and ring joint elements. Furthermore, soil layers and void elements were created. Recently, we updated the product model by re-organizing the entities and correcting errors. We deployed the updated IFCShieldTunnel model in the construction of an actual shield tunnel in Tokyo for about a year from August 2010 in order to check its feasibility. In the verification process, first, segments were modeled using Autodesk Revit Structure 2011 and property data were assigned to each segment element. Next, a mapping between the original attributes of the entities of IFC and properties of IFC-ShieldTunnel segments was developed. Using this mapping and IFC’s IfcBuildingElementProxy function, we were able to convert the IFC data from Revit Structure 2011 to IFC-ShieldTunnel automatically. Segment data were also converted from Revit Structure to Google SketchUp by IFC-ShieldTunnel. Furthermore, the construction scheduling and cost data were converted from Revit Structure to EXCEL for 4D and 5D analyses of construction. We interviewed engineers who used IFC-ShieldTunnel and received positive comments about the utilization of the product model. Overall, our test demonstrated the feasibility of IFC-ShieldTunnel. In future work, we plan to apply IFC-ShieldTunnel to more projects and test its practicality.

Cooperative Information Management of Degradation of Structures in Operation and Management

Civil engineering structures are central part of infrastructures which are indispensable to social life and economic activity. Civil engineering structures are designed to be used for a long time. They are also expected to keep their functions if natural disasters occur. Thus, the administrators routinely perform maintenance of the structures. In recent years, a cooperative effort between not only engineers but also public is performed to share various information. Therefore, a framework in which the process of cooperative information sharing and decision-making in maintenance management is required. The objective of our research is to develop a framework for cooperative decision-making in maintenance management. Thus, we investigated maintenance management and degradation, and then, developed information models for better, cooperative management.