Modular and Offsite Construction (MOC) Summit Proceedings
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Unmanned aerial vehicles usage on south african construction projects: perceived benefits
Get PDFIn recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being employed in various parts of the engineering industries for project development, project management, surveying, among others. UAVs can also be adopted in construction for pre-planning, proper surveying of the given area, checking or inspecting site safety and quality monitoring. Based on these envisaged uses, this study is set to assess the benefits of UAVs usage in the construction industry. This was achieved through a detailed literature review combined with empirical data analysis. Data was retrieved through questionnaire survey distributed to professionals randomly in the South African construction industry. The retrieved data was analysed using descriptive and inferential data analysis methods. Findings revealed that UAVs adoption in the construction industry will lead to reduction in worker’s injury as it will be implemented for monitoring of workers activities on site. It was also revealed that UAVs are useful in on-site asset tracking which allows stakeholders to have real-time information on the construction project from anywhere. The study concluded that the efficiency in the performance of the construction industry can be achieved through the adoption of UAVs in the different stages of construction projects
Design-for-Manufacturing-and-Assembly (DfMA) for the construction industry: A review
Get PDFApplying Design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) principles in building has gained attention in recent years. Studies reported that the application of DfMA in building projects can significantly enhance overall productivity. However, the literature on DfMA in the construction industry is still limited. This paper aims to provide an updated and comprehensive review of DfMA approach and its applicability in the construction industry. Web of science, and Google Scholar databases were used to obtain relevant articles from the literature. The study is based on a systematic review of 52 selected articles through search keywords for DfMA. The bibliometric results mapped the research publications by year, journal, and country in which the DfMA study is conducted. The thematic analysis results revealed the research themes and trends. In conclusion, the DfMA literature has increasingly focused on integration and sharing of information during project life-cycle to optimize design, manufacturing, and assembly, and to address issues relating to the integration of off-site manufacturing with on-site assembly. Finally, the review is concluded by providing recommendations for researchers and practitioners, and by identifying future works and opportunities for the application of DfMA in the construction industry. The results of this paper can help future theoretical and empirical research and developments
Development of decision-making tool for construction method selection: choosing and optimizing offsite construction
Get PDFOffsite construction is considered as a possible solution for addressing time, quality and cost concerns associated with traditional construction method. Successful implementation of these methods on a particular project requires systematic analysis and early decision making based on specific factors of the project. There is a lack of an efficient systematic approach that can match the changing needs, deal with the growing complexity of building projects and take into consideration recently developed innovations, technologies and regulations. The objective of this study is the development of an early-phase decision tool to support construction project teams in selecting construction methods. This paper proposes a multi-level decision framework. The first level conducts a feasibility study and evaluates the applicability of offsite construction. The second level proposes an integrated approach for the decision-making problem that combines the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE). The combination of both approaches enables a careful evaluation of different construction methods and scenarios for the same project. A computerized tool is developed and tested on a case study to help a project team in the decision-making process
Lessons Learned from adopting modular construction in Brazil: A startup journey
Get PDFAlthough Modular Construction (MC) is already known in Brazil mainly to due the fast construction of health facilities during the Covid 19 pandemic, very few developers and building companies have adopted it as an ordinary strategy. Previous studies do not focus on analysing how start-up companies can contribute to MC establishment in the country. This study aims to describe the journey of a local start-up company in adopting MC following a descriptive case-study approach. The findings suggest that the following drivers are crucial for the survival and success of a start-up MC company (i) the development of a variety of products that fits market segments and ensuring a minimal sale revenue regularly to pay fixed costs until it manages to capture investment to scale its business; (ii) taking into consideration it takes time and practice first on a smaller scale before going to larger projects, and multi-story modular buildings; (iii) training of skilled professionals and education on design and detailing on MC building technologies; (iv) standardization of building components, product and design to certain levels is inevitable
Front matter, MOC Summit 2019 Proceedings
No full textProceedings of the 2019 Modular and Offsite Construction (MOC) SummitBanff, Alberta, CanadaMay 21 - 24, 2019
Editor(s): Dr. Mohamed Al-Hussein, PhD, University of Alberta© University of Alberta Library, Edmonton, CanadaISSN 2562-543
Just-in-Time Delivery Requires Just-in-Time Production X2 – Sychronising Factory and Site for Successful Prefabrication
Get PDFFailure to synchronize production on-site with production in the factory leads to losses for the client/owner, the Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) and subcontractors as well as to delays in the construction schedule. How can off-site fabrication of sub-assemblies be synchronised with predictable production and assembly on-site so as to increase the chances that the site is ready to receive each sub-assembly when it arrives and that site operations are not delayed by waiting for delivery of sub-assemblies? From the construction literature and the authors’ personal experiences it is clear that Critical Path Methods are not fit for this purpose; rigorous, collaborative, short-term planning is much more effective. Value for practitioners: ideas for what to pay attention to, in order to reduce both work waiting for workers (or robots) and workers (or robots) waiting for work. Value for scholars: ideas for further research
Appraisal of Strategy Adopted by Construction Professionals for Coping with Stress
Get PDFStress has been identified as a significant hindrance to construction professional’s performance on site. Unfortunately, stress cannot be eliminated on site, but it can only be managed with different stress coping strategies. Therefore, this study aimed at appraising the strategy adopted by construction professionals for coping with stress. Although past studies have examined strategies adopted for dealing with the stress from two dimensions namely: problem-solving and emotional based stress coping strategies. This study introduced the third dimension and called it acceptance a hybrid of previous dimensions. It also appraised the strategy adopted by construction professionals for coping with stress based on their working experience. Convenience sampling method was used in gathering data from selected construction professionals in Lagos state Nigeria. A total of 62 questionnaires were obtained from the professionals out of 70 that were distributed. The data were analysed with statistical package for social science (SPSS version 24), using, mean score and Kruskal Wallis test. The findings from the Kruskal Wallis revealed that the strategy for coping with stress coping is dependent on the construction professionals working experience. The study concludes that communication is a crucial element for coping with construction stress. The study recommends that construction firms and project managers should provide opportunities for construction workers to communicate among themselves. The findings from this study will be useful for project managers and construction firms in Nigeria towards ameliorating the adverse effect of stress among construction professionals
Strategies for a Safe Integration of Water-Bearing MEP Systems in Prefabricated CLT Room Modules
Get PDFThe market for modular buildings based on prefabricated room modules made of cross-laminated timber (CLT) is rapidly growing in Europe. Short construction times combined with high construction quality due to prefabrication are highly attractive features of this construction method. While structural design aspects have been steadily improved, only little attention has been paid to mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems so far. However, the integration of water-bearing pipes and surface seals must be done with great care, since a permanent exposure of the timber construction to moisture caused by leaks may result in biological degradation of the wooden structure. The risk of moisture damage can be reduced by decreasing the length of horizontal piping by means of intelligent pipe routing. In addition, sensor technology can be used to detect water leaks in critical areas where other measures fail to provide sufficient protection. Both aspects are addressed in this paper. First, the results of an analysis of nine completed construction projects based on CLT modules including hotels, student residences, nursing homes, and health care centers are presented. The projects were used to identify the current state of practice regarding the design of CLT room modules with respect to the integration of MEP installations. In a next step, general strategies for a safe integration of MEP installations in timber buildings are outlined. A bathroom layout with optimized pipe routing based on three individual shafts is chosen to show the application of these strategies. The approach enables a considerable reduction of horizontal pipe length while maintaining the functional and architectural requirements of the room module. Finally, a new planar sensor for detecting water leaks is presented. The results were developed in the research project SensGT and will lead to standardized solutions for a safe integration of MEP installations in CLT room modules
Numerical Study of the Geometry Effect of Notched Connections in Mass Timber Panel-Concrete Composite Floors
Get PDFA mass timber panel-concrete (MTPC) composite floor system consists of a timber panel in the tensile zone, a concrete layer in the compression zone, and shear connectors between timber and concrete. The notched connections that are cut in timber and connected with concrete by the interlocking effect are often classified as the best type of connection system in terms of stiffness and load-carrying capacity. To study the effect of notch geometry to the performance of notched connections and composite beams, 2D finite element models are built in ABAQUS in this study. The concrete portion is modelled with concrete damaged plasticity model while the timber portion is modelled with Hashin’s failure criteria. The effective bending stiffness and ultimate bending capacity of the composite beam under uniformly distributed load are obtained from the finite element models and are compared with the well-known Gamma method in Eurocode 5 and strut-and-tie model. Good agreement between finite element model in the elastic range and strut-and-tie model was achieved. However, due to the assumptions made in the Gamma method, it was found that this simplified design method is not capable of describing MTPC composite floors with discrete notched connections
Integrating Computational Design to Improve the Design Workflow of Modular Construction
Get PDFThe construction industry’s productivity has stagnated since the 1960s while in the same period, manufacturing and technology industries have seen vast improvements. The construction industry is coming under increased pressure to provide better value through improved quality and performance and as a result developers and constructors are looking to alternative forms of construction. In a process that borrows concepts from the manufacturing and technology sectors, such as automation and 3D modelling, Prefabricated Volumetric Construction (modular construction) is a highly versatile approach with the potential to deliver substantial cost savings, faster project delivery times, higher quality construction with less waste and emissions, and an increase in worker safety. This paper will explore the integration of computational design into the design workflow of modular construction through several project examples. The following topics will be covered: creation and assembly of parametric modules in the Revit Building Information Model (BIM) software, using the visual programming tool Dynamo; the linkage of the BIM to the analytical model; and the extraction of results and the manipulation and display of data using Grasshopper, a visual programming language and environment plugin, for Rhinoceros a 3D modeler. This integration has been found to reduce the time required to develop the building model, the drawings, the analytical model and complete the design while improving the consistency and accuracy of all