Abstract: | With the rapid development of building information modeling (BIM), it is being regarded
as a promising technology to improve the productivity of the construction industry. As an extensive
application of BIM, virtual construction (VC) technology can be used to simulate and optimize
construction processes in an effective way, and identify the potential problems during construction in
advance, thus reducing construction reworks and improving construction efficiency. However, large
amounts of data is involved in construction process simulation and this often has a serious influence
on the efficiency of simulation. This research aims to improve the efficiency of dynamic simulation,
analysis and rendering of construction processes by using two concepts, i.e. level of development
(LOD) and Scene Management. The multi-level modeling rules are first established, different LOD
BIM models for building components, workers and machines defined, then different levels of
construction sites classified based on the hierarchical structure of Scene Management, and finally the
approaches to integrating appropriate level BIM models into different stages and construction scenes
of construction projects presented. Through the implementation of the proposed approach, relevant
BIM models can be rapidly rendered and therefore the efficiency of simulation and analysis of
construction processes improved. It is expected that this research would benefit the efficient
implementation of virtual construction. |