Automation of the conceptual design process in construction industry using ideas generation techniques

Renev, Ivan (2019) Automation of the conceptual design process in construction industry using ideas generation techniques. PhD thesis, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Finland.

Abstract

Early design stage in Construction projects is a crucial part of the sophisticated longterm design process. Here many fundamental and critical decisions are being taken. The more successful and innovative solutions are developed during this stage, the more advanced, effective, and less costly design is gained. Those solutions can be found by using different tools for ideas generation and the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) is believed to be one of the most effective and well-structured problem-solving techniques. In the digital century it is reasonable to link modern construction design software with ideas generation techniques in order to enhance and automate design creativity. Nowadays Building Information Modelling (BIM) became a popular stream in the construction design. Existing BIM software have range of instruments enabling designers to bring all their knowledge and experience into projects but, however, such software does not support users in searching for nontrivial conceptual ideas for design. That is why the ideas generation stage is still a separate, not automated and humandepended part of the construction design. Thus, there is no professional software which would automate the decision-making process at early design phases including search for not only optimal and reliable solutions but also for inventive ones. On the other hand, BIM and graphical programming for design are state-of-the art in the modern construction design and Computer-Aided-Invention (CAI) software is becoming more popular in different disciplines. Merging this with existing inventive techniques could add artificial intelligence into the design software and enhance and automate design creativity in the conceptual design stage. In the dissertation a method for automation of the conceptual design process of framed bearing structural systems has been developed, implemented and tested. The method consists of three key steps: shape creation, function analysis and contradiction analysis. First, the theoretical grounds for the development of the proposed methodology are justified in the thesis. After that, suggestions are made on the ideology of the method and it is technically implemented using modern design software. Finally, the method is tested on a case study and evaluated using a survey. The results show that the proposed approach reduces design time and increases effectiveness of the process. Further it is proposed to generalise method and increase its functionality.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Thesis advisor: Chechurin, Leonid
Uncontrolled Keywords: conceptual design; building information modelling; theory of inventive problem solving; automation
Index terms: designer, function analysis, decision-making process, becoming, creativity, case study, building information modelling, artificial intelligence, early design stage, dissertation, automation, construction industry, effectiveness, design phase, TRIZ, survey, functionality, design process, conceptual design, programming, problem solving, stream, construction project, methodology
Subjects: industry analysis, information systems, decision analysis, water management, design practice, performance management, artificial intelligence, data science, design methods, data collection methods, profession, philosophical process, innovation and creative processes, production management, automation and robotics, design process, decision-making and reasoning, research methods, professional practice, design features, programming, problem-solving, research dissemination and communication
Topics: Quality Management, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Risk Management, Sustainability, Design Practice, Digital Applications, Research Practice, Roles and Professions
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