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Both of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Lean construction have significant impacts on construction industry. It is widely accepted that BIM can be used as a tool to help reduce project cost, shorten project duration by optimizing... more
Both of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Lean construction have significant impacts on
construction industry. It is widely accepted that BIM can be used as a tool to help reduce project cost,
shorten project duration by optimizing the construction sequence, improving the coordination of project
teams, providing communication platform for different disciplines and so on. A further exploration can be
made to find whether BIM can be used as a tool to help project team to achieve the Lean Principles. In
this research, a hypothesis was developed to validate if BIM can be used as a tool to achieve the
principles of Lean construction by improving the construction productivity of a project. Several metrics
were investigated to measure the contributions of BIM towards project productivity. By analyzing a case
study, this paper explored the connection between BIM and Lean construction, the contribution of BIM in
the development of coordination and collaboration of work teams, project quality, and reduction of waste
and cost.
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Stakeholders of highway and infrastructure project projects are turning to ground-breaking technologies, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), to help reduce time and improve cost efficiency, without compromising the quality of... more
Stakeholders of highway and infrastructure project projects are turning to ground-breaking technologies, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), to help reduce time and improve cost efficiency, without compromising the quality of their projects and the environment. These stakeholders are public agencies officials, project man-agers, transportation engineers and contractors. The purpose of this paper is to ex-plore the implementation characteristics of BIM in these projects. The benefits and applications of BIM with a focus on highway and infrastructure projects are reviewed. The BIM attributes based on the content analysis of the various BIM definitions are identified and analysed. The transportation practitioners’ perspective towards BIM is obtained and the readiness of the industry for the BIM implementation is assessed through a questionnaire survey among transportation professionals and contractors in the Arabian Gulf region. It was found that the benefits of BIM are now being realized in the highway and infrastructure projects.
Various initiatives can be taken to implement Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems in a country. The purpose of this paper is to highlight critical initiatives derived from the review of BIM implementations at both the public and... more
Various initiatives can be taken to implement Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems in a country. The purpose of this paper is to highlight critical initiatives derived from the review of BIM implementations at both the public and private sectors in six selected countries. The methodology adopted for structuring the study is to classify BIM initiatives for its implementation into policy, process and technology fields. A literature review of such BIM fields from the USA, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Singapore and Hong Kong is provided. Moreover, the experiences of authors in BIM research projects conducted in the past through questionnaire surveys and interviews are also utilized to synthesize the findings. The review suggested that, in several situations, BIM was implemented in conjunction with Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) for better integration and interoperability of various components of BIM system. The type and roles of major stakeholders in promoting and providing support for the implementation, research and development of BIM systems is presented. The findings suggest that initiatives can be taken for policy formulation, BIM organization, information exchange capability, research areas identification, promotion, presentation and liaison of BIM programmes for an effective BIM implementation in a country.
An approach for enhancing the production efficiency of bill of quantities (BQ) used on construction projects is presented. The approach was developed to integrate the quantities obtained from a building information model of the project... more
An approach for enhancing the production efficiency of bill of quantities (BQ) used on construction projects is presented. The approach was developed to integrate the quantities obtained from a building information model of the project into a suitably prepared electronic format of BQ with 3D views. In this format of BQ, the building information modeling (BIM) technology provides enhanced functionality to a contractor’s quantity surveyor whose primary task is to accurately determine the quantities from the project drawings. A review of the traditional BQ preparation methods is presented to highlight their characteristics and to reflect on their benefits and barriers. Questionnaire surveys were conducted with various groups of respondents to obtain their opinions about the proposed BQ format. They included experienced quantity surveyors from the public and the private sectors, postgraduate, and undergraduate students studying in BIM-related courses. The results of the questionnaire survey showed mostly a positive view toward the proposed BQ format. Slight differences in the opinions of these three groups were also present. It is expected that the approach as presented in this paper for the development of BQ with 3D BIM views could usefully be incorporated into the standard quantity surveying practices for quantity takeoffs in various countries.
This paper presents the surface water absorption of self-compacting concrete (SCC) containing fly ash and silica fume using sorptivity test. Ordinary Portland cement was partially replaced by various combinations of fly ash and silica... more
This paper presents the surface water absorption of self-compacting concrete (SCC) containing fly ash and silica fume using sorptivity test. Ordinary Portland cement was partially replaced by various combinations of fly ash and silica fume. Test results show that the presence of fly ash and silica fume significantly reduce the surface water absorption of self-compacting concrete at a water-binder ratio of 0.38. When only fly ash is used to partially replace Ordinary Portland cement, a more noticeable reduction in sorptivity is found when the fly ash content is greater than 20%. The effect of combined use of fly ash and silica fume on reducing the water absorption and sorptivity is much more significant than using fly ash only. Moreover, it is noted that increasing the proportion of fly ash and silica fume leads to an enhanced reduction in water absorption. The addition of fly ash and silica fume, in general, increases the 28-day cube strength. However, there is no correlation between the compressive strength and the sorptivity in SCC achieved.
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This research work was carried out to evaluate the performance of High Performance Concrete (HPC) made with Fly Ash (FA) and Metakaolin (MK) at elevated temperature through Stiffness Damage Test (SDT). Variables of the test program... more
This research work was carried out to evaluate the performance of High Performance Concrete (HPC) made with Fly Ash (FA) and Metakaolin (MK) at elevated temperature through Stiffness Damage Test (SDT). Variables of the test program include partial replacement of cement with MK (10% and 20%) and FA (20% and 40%) and temperature from 27 to 400 _C. To quantify the damage, chord loading modulus, unloading stiffness, plastic strain, damage index and non-linearity index were evaluated from SDT. Correlation among SDT parameters and in between SDT parameters and elevated temperature were also studied.
According to the test results, the SDT parameters showed that the stiffness and elasticity decreased and damage increased with the increase in temperature. The stiffness changes were evident from chord modulus and unloading stiffness, elasticity changes from plastic strain and damage to concrete from damage index. For all mixes, significant change in the SDT parameters occurred at 300 _C. Therefore, 300 _C can be considered as critical temperature. At elevated temperatures (300 _C and 400 _C), FA mixes showed lower values of plastic strain and damage index than MK mixes. Thus, it may feasible to increase the allowable working temperature for FA mixes. The SDT parameters were found to be sensitive to elevated temperatures caused by changes in the microstructure of concrete. Test results also revealed that plastic strain and damage index correlate well with loading elastic modulus with values of coefficient of correlation equal to 0.9657 and 0.9835 respectively. Therefore, plastic strain and damage index measured from SDT can be used to estimate the percentage residual chord loading modulus of concrete affected by fire. Strong correlation also exists between PS and DI with coefficient of correlation equal to 0.985.
The extensive use of eco-friendly materials in concrete has led to the demand to fully understand the effect of fire on concrete. This research was carried out to evaluate high performance concrete (HPC) made with fly ash and metakaolin... more
The extensive use of eco-friendly materials in concrete has led to the demand to fully understand the effect of fire on concrete. This research was carried out to evaluate high performance concrete (HPC) made with fly ash and metakaolin with replacement level of 20 percent by weight of cement after elevated temperatures exposure (200 _C, 400 _C, 600 _C and 800 _C). The mechanical performance was assessed from compressive strength while the durability was assessed from chloride permeability and water sorptivity test. Qualitative analysis of the microstructure of heated and unheated concrete was performed by SEM while quantitative analysis was performed on SEM images using Image Pro-plus software. Based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of SEM images, the distribution of the number, type and surface area fraction of flaws were identified and changes in the structure of Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) were classified into different temperature ranges.
Test results show that for all mixes post-elevated temperature compressive strength decreased while charge passed and sorptivity values increased with the increase in temperature from 27 _C to 800 _C. For all mixes, major strength and durability loss occurred after 400 _C. Therefore, 400 _C can be considered as critical temperature from the standpoint of strength and durability loss. From the qualitative and quantitative analysis, different types of flaws were identified. These were texture flaws (T), orientation flaws (O) collectively called as textured and orientation flaws (TO) and local flaws (L). The post-elevated temperature surface area fraction of TO and local flaws in the ITZ of each concrete mix continuously increased with the increase of elevated temperature. The increase in surface area fraction of flaws resulted in gradual loss in the mechanical and durability properties of concrete. Major increase in surface area fraction occurred in between 400 and 600 _C, resulting in major strength loss and sharp increase in charged passed and sorptivity values through concrete specimens. Therefore, 400 _C can be regarded as critical for change in the properties of concrete. No specific relationship between the number of TO flaws and the type of binding material in concrete and the temperature was found. However for local flaws, in general, the number increased with the increase of temperature. Also, the changes in the structure of ITZ were classified into three temperature ranges namely; the low range temperatures (27–200 _C), the medium range temperatures (200–400 _C) and the high range temperatures (400–800 _C). The physical character of ITZ in HPC changes gradually from a discrete or discontinuous flaw zone at normal or mildly elevated temperature to a continuous and highly porous flaw zone at elevated temperatures. Thus, the classification signifies the effect of the texture of coarse aggregate and the orientation of fine aggregate in concrete matrix coupled with the effect of elevated temperatures on ITZ of HPC.
"An experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the performance of Fly Ash (FA) and Metakaolin (MK) mortar at elevated temperatures. Variables of the test program include partial replacement of cement with MK from 5% to 20%, FA... more
"An experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the performance of Fly Ash (FA) and Metakaolin (MK) mortar at elevated temperatures. Variables of the test program include partial replacement of cement with MK from 5% to 20%, FA from 20% to 60% and temperatures from 27  C to 800  C. The mechanical performance was assessed from compressive strength while the durability was assessed from chloride permeability test. Qualitative analysis of the microstructure of heated and unheated mortar was performed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) while quantitative analysis was performed on SEM images using Image Pro-plus software.
Test results show that for all mixes compressive strength decreased while charge passed increased with the increase in temperature from 27  C to 800  C. For all mixes, major strength and durability loss occurred after 400  C. Therefore, 400  C can be considered as critical temperature from the standpoint of strength and durability loss. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of SEM were found to be consistent with the results of strength and durability loss. The observation of SEM images and image analysis of area fractions of hardened cement paste (hcp) of different mortar mixes indicated that with the increase in temperature the pore area fraction increased while hydrated paste area fraction decreased. These factors resulted in the degradation of microstructure and affected the strength and durability of mortar. Major drop in hydrated paste area and rise in pore area fraction occurred at 400  C. Therefore, 400  C could be regarded as the critical temperature for change in the properties of mortar. In general, fly ash mix (FA20) showed better performance in all aspects."
The construction phase of a building is one of the most risky in the case of occurrence of fire and its potential impact. In tall buildings, there is a need for more effective way to evacuate people quickly and safely. Fire alarms have an... more
The construction phase of a building is one of the most risky in the case of occurrence of fire and its potential impact. In tall buildings, there is a need for more effective way to evacuate people quickly and safely. Fire alarms have an important role in evacuation from a tall building in case of fire. For building during construction phase, the efficiency of the fire evacuation should increase with fire alarms to alert workers and to minimize mishaps of workers being trapped in fire. A questionnaire was developed in light of the literature review to collect the construction workers’ and management’s opinion of the current high rise building jobsites on the necessity of the fire alarm provision. The outcome of this study recommended that the alarm bell and manual call point must be installed in the building under construction as the minimum fire alarm provision to improve the effectiveness of fire evacuation. The site layout must be regularly updated with regard to site access roads for the fire brigade, fire escape route inside the building, fire compartments, water supply lines and safe assembly points particularly during high turnout of workers on site. It is hoped that the recommendations would be useful reference for reviewing the current fire safety requirements for buildings under construction.
The use of building information modeling (BIM) for building sustainability assessment (BSA) is a thriving topic within the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. Despite the various research approaches to employing BSA with... more
The use of building information modeling (BIM) for building sustainability assessment (BSA) is a thriving topic within the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. Despite the various research approaches to employing BSA with BIM support, the research is limited to the BIM implications of BSA methods in developing countries. This paper presents how BIM can assist the BSA processes in Kazakhstan, using a previously developed building sustainability assessment framework for Kazakhstan (KBSAF). This framework has 46 assessment indicators grouped into nine assessment categories. The categories and assessment indicators of KBSAF were derived considering the regional variations and country-specific differences in the assessment factors. In this paper, BIM functions for BSA were identified through literature review; their applicability for KBSAF was evaluated by mapping the functions with the assessment indicators of KBSAF and a BIM-based BSA framework (BIM-KBSAF) was proposed...
Mechanical performance and durability of Fly ash and Metakaolin concrete at elevated temperatrues was evaluated. Quick cooling produced greater loss in compressive strength than slow cooling. For all mixes, major strength and durability... more
Mechanical performance and durability of Fly ash and Metakaolin concrete at elevated temperatrues was evaluated. Quick cooling produced greater loss in compressive strength than slow cooling. For all mixes, major strength and durability loss occurred after 400 °C. At 400 °C and above, FA20 showed better performance while MK10 and MK20 showed higher degradation in terms of durability. a b s t r a c t Ordinary concrete is generally considered to have satisfactory fire resistance but when it comes to high strength concrete it shows extensive damage or even catastrophic failure at elevated temperatures. This research work was carried out to evaluate the performance of High Performance Concrete (HPC) made with Fly ash (FA) and Metakaolin (MK) at elevated temperatures. Variables of the test program include partial replacement of cement with MK from 5% to 20%, FA from 20% to 60%, temperatures from 27 °C to 800 °C and two types of cooling methods (in air and water). The mechanical performance was assessed from compressive strength while the durability was assessed from chloride permeability and water sorp-tivity tests. Mass loss at elevated temperatures was also determined. Moreover, quantitative analysis of the SEM images on selected concrete specimens was performed using Image Pro-plus software. Test results showed degradation in the mechanical and durability properties of HPC at elevated temperatures. Quick cooling produced greater loss in compressive strength than slow cooling. This is because of the effect of thermal shock which was more pronounced at 400 °C. From the standpoint of durability, all mixes showed major increase in charge pass and sorptivity values in between 400 °C and 600 °C. Therefore, 400 °C could be regarded as the critical temperature for change in the properties of HPC. Quantitative analysis of the SEM images of Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) indicated that pore area fraction increased with the increase in temperature. This resulted in the degradation of microstructure and affected the strength and durability of concrete. In general, at temperatures (400 °C and above) FA20 showed better performance while MK mixes (MK10 and MK20) showed higher degradation in terms of durability. This gives an indication that MK mixes should be used with care especially in structures which may be subjected to temperature of 400 °C and above.
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