Abstract
The main objective of this research is to develop an automated constructability rating framework for different concrete formwork systems that are commonly used for the construction of reinforced concrete residential buildings. Initially, various constructability criteria (cost, time, quality, safety and environmental sustainability) that are analogous to the concrete formwork construction are rationally characterized through an intriguing data acquisition mechanism (a complete process involving the collection, recording and processing of data) known as constructability survey. Withal, an unified 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM) Model (i.e., 3D Structural BIM Model and 3D BIM Formwork Family or Module) is developed to providence CONSTaFORM, an automated constructability assessment framework for concrete formwork systems. The CONSTaFORM is a supplementary Add-in for Autodesk Revit developed by a process called API-fication, i.e., customizing Revit API to provide additional functionalities and hence enhancing the capabilities of existing framework invariably. The optimal constructability scores of various concrete formwork systems obtained from the constructability survey are initially fed into their respective 3D BIM formwork families as shared parameters, which are later used for the computation of the overall constructability rating of the formwork systems involved in the entire project, using BIM via CONSTaFORM Add-in. To reinforce the profundity and advocacy of CONSTaFORM Add-in, a suitable case study is reported.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their valuable support and guidance in accomplishing this research. Autodesk Education Community, Autodesk, Inc., California, USA for providing free access to the Autodesk Revit 2018 software for our teaching and research. Mr. Amitendra Nath Sarkar (Engineering Manager), Mr. Devendra Dalal (Former Design Engineer), Mrs. Shobana Gajhbiye (Design Engineer), Mr. Sashikanth Deshmukh (Draughtsman), Mr. Suryakanth Kolekar (Draughtsman), Mr. R. Kumar (Senior Formwork Instructor) and Mr. Muthuvinayaga Krishnan (Formwork Instructor) of Doka India Pvt. Ltd, Navi Mumbai, India for their valuable information and technical guidance on system formwork and special formwork (climbing formwork systems) Engineering. Mr. Eldo Vargehese (General Director), PASCHAL Formwork (India) Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, India; Mr. Ketan Shah (Managing Director), MFE Formwork Technology India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India and Mr. Arul Raja (Vice President), RMD Kwikform, Chennai, India for their support during the constructability survey. The contribution of various other technical experts and discussants, directly and indirectly during the constructability survey and API-fication process are also highly regarded. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and constructive suggestions that greatly contributed to enhance the quality of final version of this manuscript.
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Appendices
Appendix
Constructability information scheme for concrete formwork systems
The detailed description of the constituents of the Constructability Information Scheme (CIS) developed for the research is given in the Table 5.
Constructability survey template
The Table 6 is an actual reproduction of the form/template entitled ‘Constructability Survey’ used to obtain responses and collate intuitive feedback from various construction personnel associated with structural and formwork construction at various construction sites for this research purpose.
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Kannan, M.R., Santhi, M.H. Automated constructability rating framework for concrete formwork systems using building information modeling. Asian J Civ Eng 19, 387–413 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-018-0026-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-018-0026-3