Search results

This paper aims to present the sustainable performance criteria for 3D printing practices, while reporting the primarily computations and lab experimentations. The potential advantages for integrating three-dimensional (3D) printing into house construction are significant in Construction Industry 4.0; these include the capacity for mass customisation of designs and parameters for functional and aesthetic purposes, reduction in construction waste from highly precise material placement and the use of recycled waste products in layer deposition materials. With the ultimate goal of improving construction efficiency and decreasing building costs, applying Strand7 Finite Element Analysis software, a numerical model was designed specifically for 3D printing in a cement mix incorporated with recycled waste product high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and found that construction of an arched truss-like roof was structurally feasible without the need for steel reinforcements.

The research method consists of three key steps: design a prototype of possible structural layouts for the 3DSBP, create 24 laboratory samples using a brittle material to identify operation challenges and analyse the correlation between time and scale size and synthesising the numerical analysis and laboratory observations to develop the evaluation criteria for 3DSBP products. The selected house consists of layouts that resemble existing house such as living room, bed rooms and garages.

Some criteria for sustainable construction using 3DP were developed. The Strand7 model results suggested that under the different load combinations as stated in AS1700, the maximum tensile stress experienced is 1.70 MPa and maximum compressive stress experienced is 3.06 MPa. The cement mix of the house is incorporated with rHDPE, which result in a tensile strength of 3 MPa and compressive strength of 26 MPa. That means the house is structurally feasible without the help of any reinforcements. Investigations had also been performed on comparing a flat and arch and found the maximum tensile stress within a flat roof would cause the concrete to fail. Whereas an arch roof had reduced the maximum tensile stress to an acceptable range for concrete to withstand loadings. Currently, there are a few 3D printing techniques that can be adopted for this purpose, and more advanced technology in the future could eliminate the current limitation on 3D printing and bring forth this idea as a common practice in house construction.

This study provides some novel criteria for evaluating a 3D printing performance and discusses challenges of 3D utilisation from design and managerial perspectives. The criteria are relied on maximum utility and minimum impact pillars which can be used by scholars and practitioners to measure their performance. The criteria and the results of the computation and experimentation can be considered as critical benchmarks for future practices.

An accidental impact load can be caused by mishaps in industry as well as accidents stemming from transportation or man‐made disasters. There are a number of ways to predict how an impact load will affect a concrete slab, some of which may be impractical or expensive but because there have been significant developments in technology, numerical techniques rather than experimental approaches have become popular methods for developing detailed responses. This paper aims to investigate finite element techniques. Therefore, to numerically examine reinforced concrete slabs subjected to impact load in order to better understand their behaviour can be considered a cost effective matter.

The paper evaluates reliability of finite element techniques to simulate the significant responses of reinforced concrete structures subjected to low velocity impact loading by taking advantage of a commercial finite element package ABAQUS/Explicit code.

The paper finds that finite element analysis is capable of making reasonable estimations available in order to determine the possible failure modes of reinforced concrete slabs subjected to impact loads. Finite element simulation can be used to construct the physical interaction between steel and concrete (bond action) as well as create an interaction between flexural and shear reinforcement. Modelling composite material such as a reinforced concrete slab is possible provided that the appropriate conditions for creating the interaction between steel and concrete are fulfilled.

The quantity of mesh density and direction of the sub‐division on the surface of a concrete slab, where it may follow the trajectory of cracking, can play an important role in simulating finite element analysis. By taking full advantage of hourglass control and mesh distortion control, and provided the number of mesh elements have increased, the simulation results would be close to the obtained experimental result.

This paper aims to investigate the theoretical and practical links between digital twin (DT) application in heritage facilities management (HFM) from a life cycle management perspective and to signpost the future development directions of DT in HFM.

This state-of-the-art review was conducted using a systematic literature review method. Inclusive and exclusive criteria were identified and used to retrieve relevant literature from renowned literature databases. Shortlisted publications were analysed using the VOSviewer software and then critically reviewed to reveal the status quo of research in the subject area.

The review results show that DT has been mainly adopted to support decision-making on conservation approach and method selection, performance monitoring and prediction, maintenance strategies design and development, and energy evaluation and management. Although many researchers attempted to develop DT models for part of a heritage building at component or system level and test the models using real-life cases, their works were constrained by availability of empirical data. Furthermore, data capture approaches, data acquisition methods and modelling with multi-source data are found to be the existing challenges of DT application in HFM.

In a broader sense, this study contributes to the field of engineering, construction and architectural management by providing an overview of how DT has been applied to support management activities throughout the building life cycle. For the HFM practice, a DT-cum-heritage building information modelling (HBIM) framework was developed to illustrate how DT can be integrated with HBIM to facilitate future DT application in HFM. The overall implication of this study is that it reveals the potential of heritage DT in facilitating HFM in the urban development context.

Predictive digital twin technology, which amalgamates digital twins (DT), the internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) for data collection, simulation and predictive purposes, has demonstrated its effectiveness across a wide array of industries. Nonetheless, there is a conspicuous lack of comprehensive research in the built environment domain. This study endeavours to fill this void by exploring and analysing the capabilities of individual technologies to better understand and develop successful integration use cases.

This study uses a mixed literature review approach, which involves using bibliometric techniques as well as thematic and critical assessments of 137 relevant academic papers. Three separate lists were created using the Scopus database, covering AI and IoT, as well as DT, since AI and IoT are crucial in creating predictive DT. Clear criteria were applied to create the three lists, including limiting the results to only Q1 journals and English publications from 2019 to 2023, in order to include the most recent and highest quality publications. The collected data for the three technologies was analysed using the bibliometric package in R Studio.

Findings reveal asymmetric attention to various components of the predictive digital twin’s system. There is a relatively greater body of research on IoT and DT, representing 43 and 47%, respectively. In contrast, direct research on the use of AI for net-zero solutions constitutes only 10%. Similarly, the findings underscore the necessity of integrating these three technologies to develop predictive digital twin solutions for carbon emission prediction.

The results indicate that there is a clear need for more case studies investigating the use of large-scale IoT networks to collect carbon data from buildings and construction sites. Furthermore, the development of advanced and precise AI models is imperative for predicting the production of renewable energy sources and the demand for housing.

This paper makes a significant contribution to the field by providing a strong theoretical foundation. It also serves as a catalyst for future research within this domain. For practitioners and policymakers, this paper offers a reliable point of reference.

Industry 4.0 is driving an incremental shift in paradigms for the construction industry. Current research in the built environment is limited to exploring the exponential technological prowess of Industry 4.0 with very little work on its implications to the construction business model, strategy and competitive advantage. There arises a challenge for researchers to understand how appropriate technologies can be assembled to assist in achieving the goals of construction businesses. The overarching aim of this research is to develop a construction Business Model Transformation Canvas (BMTC) to map the transformation of construction enterprises in Industry 4.0.

The research was carried out by conducting an expert forum with academics from nine universities across Australia and New Zealand. The study employed purposive sampling, and the academics were selected in a strategic manner in order to provide data that are relevant to the research.

The research identifies that technology-based partnerships supporting strategy and capability building, platforms enabling enterprises to conceive, design, manufacture and assemble buildings and competition with stakeholders having superior capabilities not in building but in other areas of business are fundamental to Industry 4.0 transformation.

The results present state-of-the-art development of business model research in construction that intends to support the strategic planning of construction enterprises in Industry 4.0. This research is the first and only research that uses a business model canvas (BMC) for strategy-reformulation in incumbent construction enterprises to maintain a competitive advantage in Industry 4.0. Merits of the construction BMTC lie in its holistic approach, visual representation and simplicity.

In this study, the effect of the column’s cross-section shape as a design parameter on resisting blast loads in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings was numerically investigated. To try to give a guideline to the design engineer about the best columns’ cross-section shape when designing an RC building that is more vulnerable to blast loads.

The finite element (FE) analysis was conducted for three RC buildings with different cross-section shapes of columns but with the same area and axial load capacity. The FE analysis was carried out using the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) in Abaqus/CAE software. The effect of the blast loads resulting from the explosion of 50, 150, and 500 kg TNT bombs with a standoff distance of 3 m on all buildings was investigated.

The Findings showed that large TNT charges of more than 500 kg with a standoff distance of less than 3 m cause catastrophic damage to RC columns of any cross-section-shaped. Also, RC columns with circular cross-section shapes have the best resistance to blast loads, while RC columns with rectangular sections have the worst resistance.

The CEL technique was used to investigate the effect of columns’ cross-section shape on resisting blast loads on full-scale RC buildings. Also, this research gives a guideline to the design engineer about the best columns’ cross-section shape when designing an RC building that is more vulnerable to blast loads.

The dynamic nature of the built environment and trending smart construction project complexities demand proactive needs tailored towards architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) education. It is a task for the built environment professionals (BEP) to prepare for the future, including the quantity surveying (QS) profession. Studies are scarce in preparing QS education from Nigeria’s stakeholders’ perspective regarding digital technology. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate how to improve QS education by continually updating curriculum digitalisation to meet the construction industry requirements.

Data were sourced from elite virtual interviews across Nigeria. A total of 40 key stakeholders knowledgeable in QS education, advocating a future template for the advancement of QS education in higher institutions, were engaged, and saturation was achieved.

Findings show that improving QS education through continually updating curriculum digitalisation to meet industry requirements cannot be over-emphasised in the 21st-century-built environment industry. The outcomes of the results led to the conclusion that the current QS education curriculum was not meeting the expectations of other BEP stakeholders. Thus, for competitiveness in the future, the QS education curriculum needs to infuse more related-digital technology modules/courses to assist in the sustainability and relevance of the profession within the BEP.

This paper focussed on improving Nigeria’s QS education using digital technologies via a qualitative approach. Future study is needed via a quantitative approach for broader coverage and validation.

The research revealed the need for designing QS programmes to provide for industry demands with emphasis on digital technologies modules/courses. Nigeria’s QS education stakeholders have been stirred up to embrace the curriculum review and make the profession digitalised and relevant within the BEP. The built environment sector is trending towards digitalisation, and the QS programmes cannot afford to be behind.

This research identified the current gap regarding digitalisation of the curriculum. This study will stir QS educational providers and regulators to improve future programmes via digital technologies. It would encourage the use of digital technologies with the right enabling environment. The outcome would mitigate the gap and improve Nigeria’s QS education in the future.

Based on the systematic literature review, this paper aims to propose a framework of Construction 4.0 (C4.0) scenarios, identifying Industry 4.0 (I4.0) enabling technologies and their applications in the construction industry. The paper reviews C4.0 trends and potential areas for development.

In this research, a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology has been applied, including bibliographic coupling analysis (BCA), co-citation network analysis of keywords, the content analysis with the visualisation of similarities (VOSviewer) software and aggregative thematic analysis (ATA). In total, 170 articles from the top 22 top construction journals in the Scopus database between 2013 and 2021 were analysed.

Six C4.0 scenarios of applications were identified. Out of nine I4.0 technology domains, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Cloud Computing, Big Data and Analytics had the most references in C4.0 research, while applications of augmented/virtual reality, vertical and horizontal integration and autonomous robotics yet provide ample avenues for the future applied research. The C4.0 application scenarios include efficient energy usage, prefabricated construction, sustainability, safety and environmental management, indoor occupant comfort and efficient asset utilisation.

This research contributes to the body of knowledge by offering a framework of C4.0 scenarios revealing the status quo of research published in the top construction journals into I4.0 technology applications in the sector. The framework evaluates current C4.0 research trends and gaps in relation to nine I4.0 technology domains as compared with more advanced industry sectors and informs academic community, practitioners and strategic policymakers with interest in C4.0 trends.

Construction industry (CI) has great prominence for the world economy, and it is expected that, with the use of the innovative technologies and approaches of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), the new industrial paradigm, construction can reach higher levels of productivity. This study aims to develop a model (readiness model) to assess the level of use of I4.0 technologies by the construction sector in Brazil and its most relevant applications.

The methodology used was bibliographic research, design-science research and a survey to validate the model, carried out with 162 companies, considered among the main ones in the sector in Brazil. The literature review revealed 13 technologies of I4.0 applied to construction; hence, the views of industry experts were based on these technologies.

The Digital Advancement Within CoNstruction (DAWN) readiness model was proposed, showing that among the 13 evaluated technologies of I4.0 and their applications, the Brazilian construction companies had a low level of utilization; both high and middle-income companies presented this low level of use; some technologies with a greater number of scientific publications were less used in practice in the Brazilian construction.

The originality and theoretical contribution are to present a readiness model to assess the level of use of I4.0 technologies and their most relevant applications in the CI in countries with an economy similar to Brazil’s, making it possible to measure the level of adoption of these technologies.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the declining conditions of many of the hospital buildings, especially in developing countries. Past studies have shown inadequate maintenance practices but how far regarding Nigerian public hospital buildings is yet to receive empirical research. This paper aims to investigate the underlying issues leading to inadequate maintenance practices and proffers policy options to improve Nigerian public hospital buildings via an unexplored dimension.

The study used a mixed research design method involving both qualitative and quantitative data. First, results from the qualitative phase were analysed and verified at the quantitative phase through a well-structured questionnaire, developed from the qualitative findings across hospital maintenance experts (work/maintenance department, health-care provider, design team and health-care building/service contractor) in Abuja, Lagos and Benin City.

Insufficient funds for maintenance works, absence of planned maintenance programmes, inadequately trained personnel, etc., emerged as the maintenance inadequacies in the public hospital buildings across the cities covered. The paper categorised the cause of inadequate maintenance practices of public hospital buildings into six groups: statutory requirements, design stage, construction stage, budget for maintenance task, managing maintenance unit activities and user’s perception regarding maintenance management.

This paper is limited to maintenance practices of Nigerian public hospital buildings. Future research is needed to evaluate factors that will enhance outsourcing maintenance and the use of the 4th industrial revolution (building information modelling for refurbishment and building automation systems) amongst others in maintenance practices of public hospital buildings.

As part of the practical implication, the government and hospital administrators should make provision for adequate funding and accountability of annual maintenance budgetary allocation. Also, the government should establish a national maintenance policy for public infrastructure with an emphasis on preventive maintenance and contractor’s reputation, outstanding pedigree, technical and financial soundness during build maintenance contract award, etc., were recommended.

This paper reveals that the stakeholders, especially hospital administrators, policymakers and political office holders that are concern with maintenance budget, approval and disbursement concerning maintenance practices in public hospital buildings need to reawaken to her responsibility because of the inadequate implementation across the cities covered.