3D-Planning of construction site equipment based on process simulation

Current approaches in planning building site equipment evaluate static periods, e.g. construction phases. As a consequence these states provide a rudimentary optimized layout plan, however without considering the material flow and corresponding interactions in a precise form. Due to dynamic processes, which could obstruct the material flow, an adaption of the equipment layout during individual construction phases is indicated as essential. The specified approach implies a simulation based planning of the site equipment, which also considers layout-relevant actions during construction phases. By designing a sophisticated toolkit with intelligent objects for material flow and equipment, a new practical method to establish a building site is provided. The planning is set up with common, plan-based procedures; a 3D-model of the equipment is generated automatically by inheriting information from the intelligent objects mentioned above. To visualize possible collisions, the applied configuration is embedded into a 3D-model of the building site, which indicates the current progress of construction. Apart from these advantages, the current layout can be validated in terms of an efficient use of functional surfaces, such as storage areas or routes of transportation. By designing the equipment within the simulation environment instead of using 3D-CAD, it is possible to perform a precise analysis of the material flow. Due to user-specified attributes, which vary dynamically over time, objects of site equipment adapt autonomously to the material flow of different construction phases. Hence objects request and release equipment areas dynamically, dependent on the current progress of the workflow. The integration of building site equipment into the event-based simulation provides a basis for an optimized material flow. The approach enables the construction engineer to manually draft a layout, whereas the simulation generates more specific information, such as specific storage locations or capacity utilisation of the equipment over time.