BIM is shifting from 'drawing' to 'connecting'. Integrating point clouds and BIM to create information that stakeholders can use for decision-making in Navisworks

Shimizu Corporation has announced the development of a 'BIM-FEM integration system' that automatically generates 3D analysis models from BIM data.

They state that this can reduce the time required to create an analysis model from approximately one month to about three days.

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What is an analysis model?

A BIM model is a 3D model used by people to design and verify buildings.

On the other hand, an analysis model is a model used for computer calculations to determine what kind of forces act upon a building.

It might be easier to visualize it not as a model intended to reproduce the appearance, but as data where columns, beams, walls, and the like have been converted into a 'calculable format'.

Until now, there were many instances where structural designers had to create these analysis models manually.

This news represents an initiative to automate that task using BIM data.

In other words, it means that the analysis model was a 'separate piece of data' that had to be created specifically for analysis, apart from the design drawings.

What I focused on was not the 'three days'

Of course, reducing one month to three days is a significant improvement.

However, that is not what I focused on.

It is the fact that BIM is becoming a foundation for passing information on to the next process.

In the construction industry, the concept of utilizing design information entered once in subsequent processes has been gradually spreading for some time.

I felt that this news indicates that the scope of this has expanded to include structural analysis of large-scale facilities.

In short, BIM is not a finished product.

It is becoming a database for connecting information to various processes such as structural analysis, quantity surveying, construction planning, and maintenance management.

What Kukan Honyakusha also aims for

What I am aiming for at 'Kukan Honyakusha' is also not to treat BIM as a 'finished product'.

Point clouds that record the current state, and designed BIM models.

By integrating the information each holds and overlaying them in Navisworks, we create a situation where designers, contractors, and clients can make decisions while looking at the same space.

The goal is not to replace point clouds with BIM.

Nor is it just to create a BIM model.

It is to connect different information so that the site, design, and client teams can look at the same information and make decisions based on the same criteria.

BIM is not the goal.

Its value becomes even greater when utilized as a hub to connect information.

This news was content that made me feel that this trend is accelerating in the field of structural analysis as well.

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