As a processing technology of data and information, building information modeling (BIM) is
often used for producing digital engineering model and promoting interoperability among participants
involved in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. The real values of BIM
largely depend on effective information integrating and sharing among different stages or disciplines
through the whole building lifecycle. To this day, although BIM has made a substantial contribution to
the Chinese AEC industry, there are still some debates on its roles. Moreover, due to the complexity of
structural design process, the weak link between structural model and BIM model makes its deep
application even harder. To address these issues, this paper discusses the roles of BIM from the
perspective of structural engineers through comparing with the traditional CAD. Then, the BIM
structural model is studied by analyzing the model conformation, design mode, and Industry
Foundation Classes (IFC)-format structural model. By comparing the differences between BIM
physical model and structural mechanical model, an indirect method for the data transformation from
BIM model to structural analysis model is proposed. An interface is developed based on the analysis of
data formats and mapping rules. Three typical cases are adopted to demonstrate the data transfer
efficiency by using the interface. The case study shows that the proposed method achieves higher
efficiency for the data transformation from BIM model to structural analysis model.
關聯:
Journal of Applied Science and Engineering 19(3), pp.273-284
