Milberg, C T (2006) Application of tolerance management to civil systems. PhD thesis, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
Abstract
The negative impact of variability on civil systems projects is investigated in research in Lean Construction. However, geometric variability has received little focus. Geometric variations due to tolerances can have costly direct and indirect impacts in civil systems, which include architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) projects. Nevertheless, AEC practitioners and researchers, overall, lack an understanding of how tolerances and tolerance problems propagate throughout a project. In contrast, investigation into manufacturing reveals more advanced techniques and strategies for tolerance management that have resulted in significant improvement in manufacturing efficiency and product quality. This research investigates the application of manufacturing tolerance management techniques and strategies to civil systems. The author looked at many industry practices and reports in-depth on three case studies. The first case investigates structural steel bolt connections on the seismic retrofit of a steel suspension bridge. The second looks at the interface between windows and cast-in-place concrete in a multi-story building. The third deals with the connection between steel roof girders and soldier piles within a slurry wall on a highway tunnel project. Through the application of tolerance mapping, tolerance analysis, vector modeling and tolerance standards to civil systems, the author demonstrates that manufacturing tolerance management techniques successfully predict potential tolerance problems within an existing design. The author further demonstrates that these techniques can direct generation of new designs, design alternatives, or tolerance reallocations that mitigate or prevent tolerance problems in civil systems. In addition, the author provides the requirements of a good tolerance specification. Finally, the author develops a novel AEC Tolerance Management Theory, which is based on identification of six specific tolerance failure modes and provides the blueprint for managing tolerances in civil systems.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Tommelein, I |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | efficiency; failure; management theory; girders; highway; standards; tunnel; lean construction; manufacturing; retrofit; variations; case studies |
| Index terms: | product quality, case study, efficiency, failure mode, variability, modelling, roof, investigation, strategy, specification, tunnel, lean construction, girder, practitioner, management theory, variation, multistory building, mapping, window |
| Subjects: | infrastructure and transport systems, statistical analysis, quality assurance, building construction, contractual condition, structural engineering, management, design practice, architectural elements, performance management, spatial and geospatial analysis, analytical methods, practitioner, reliability engineering, construction type, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Quality Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Construction Technology, Design Practice, Site Management, Contract Administration |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here