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The integration and automation of the whole design and implementation process have become a pivotal factor in construction projects. Problems of process integration, particularly at the conceptual design stage, often manifest through a number of significant areas, from design representation, cognition and translation to process fragmentation and loss of design integrity. Whilst building information modelling (BIM) applications can be used to support design automation, particularly through the modelling, amendment and management stages, they do not explicitly provide whole design integration. This is a significant challenge. However, advances in generative design now offer significant potential for enhancing the design experience to mitigate this challenge.

The approach outlined in this paper specifically addresses BIM deficiencies at the conceptual design stage, where the core drivers and indicators of BIM and generative design are identified and mapped into a generative BIM (G-BIM) framework and subsequently embedded into a G-BIM prototype. This actively engages generative design methods into a single dynamic BIM environment to support the early conceptual design process. The developed prototype followed the CIFE “horseshoe” methodology of aligning theoretical research with scientific methods to procure architecture, construction and engineering (AEC)-based solutions. This G-BIM prototype was also tested and validated through a focus group workshop engaging five AEC domain experts.

The G-BIM prototype presents a valuable set of rubrics to support the conceptual design stage using generative design. It benefits from the advanced features of BIM tools in relation to illustration and collaboration (coupled with BIM's parametric change management features).

This prototype has been evaluated through multiple projects and scenarios. However, additional test data is needed to further improve system veracity using conventional and non-standard real-life design settings (and contexts). This will be reported in later works.

Originality and value rest with addressing the shortcomings of previous research on automation during the design process. It also addresses novel computational issues relating to the implementation of generative design systems, where, for example, instead of engaging static and formal description of the domain concepts, G-BIM actively enhances the applicability of BIM during the early design stages to generate optimised (and more purposeful) design solutions.

Major changes of an aircraft configuration are conducted during the early design stage. It is important to include the airworthiness regulations at this stage while there is extensive freedom for designing. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an efficient design framework that integrates airworthiness guidelines and documentation at the early design stage.

A new design and optimization process is proposed that logically includes the airworthiness regulations as design parameters and constraints by constructing a certification database. The design framework comprises requirements analysis, preliminary sizing, conceptual design synthesis and loads analysis. A design certification relation table (DCRT) describes the legal regulations in terms of parameters and values suitable for use in design optimization.

The developed framework has been validated and demonstrated for the design of a Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) 23 four-seater small aircraft. The validation results show an acceptable level of accuracy to be applied during the early design stage. The total mass minimization problem has been successfully solved while satisfying all the design requirements and certification constraints specified in the DCRT. Moreover, successful compliance with FAR 23 subpart C is demonstrated. The proposed method is a useful tool for design optimization and compliance verifications during the early stages of aircraft development.

The new certification database proposed in this research makes it simpler for engineers to access a large amount of legal documentation related to airworthiness regulations and provides a link between the regulation text and actual design parameters and their bounds.

The proposed design optimization framework integrates the certification database that is built of several types of legal documents such as regulations, advisory circulars and standards. The Engineering Requirements and Guide summarizes all the documents and design requirements into a single document. The DCRT is created as a summary table that indicates the design parameters affected by a given regulation(s), the design stage at which the parameter can be evaluated and its value bounds. The introduction of the certification database into the design optimization framework significantly reduces the engineer’s load related for airworthiness regulations.

Selection of the design concepts is one of the significant activities in product development process. Most of the products are usually failed due to inappropriate decision during the selection of the design concepts at the early stage of product development process. The determination of the greatest selection of design concepts at the conceptual design stage is a crucial decision due to a poor design concept which can never be compensated for by a good detailed design and it will implicate great expense of redesign cost. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one available method in forming a systematic approach for a single decision maker or a group decision maker, is employed to solve such problem. In this paper, 7 design concepts of wheelchair designs were considered as a case study. The AHP through utilizing Expert Choice software was implemented to determine the most suitable design concept of wheelchair design at the conceptual design stage. The sensitivity analysis was performed to test the stability of the priority ranking and to increase the confidence in the selection of design concepts.

The purpose of this paper is to find optimal solutions for conceptual design automation, which can be integrated with Building Information Modelling (BIM) support for construction automation. Problems relating ostensibly to failures in computational support for the conceptual design stage are well-documented in extant literature. These failures are multifarious and significant, with several deficiencies being acknowledged in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. Whilst acknowledging this, extant literature has highlighted the importance of computational design in the AEC industry; and failures in this area include the need to strengthen the congruent links and support mechanisms in order to exploit the opportunities presented by new computational design methods. Given this, it is postulated that the application of generative design could enhance the design experience by assisting designers with the iterative generation of alternatives and parameterisation (change management) processes. Moreover, as BIM applications are increasingly providing comprehensive support for modelling and management, then additional synergies could be examined for further exploitation.

This paper focusses on the potential for developing an interactive BIM environment that purposefully adopts generative design as a method of computational design for the early design stages. This research facilitates the automation of the conceptual architectural design process, using BIM as the central conduit for enhancing the integration of the whole building design process (including design interfaces). This approach is designed to improve designers’ cognition and collaboration during the conceptual architectural design process.

This paper evaluates the existing methods and decision support mechanisms, and it introduces the potential of combining different concepts into a single environment (generative design/BIM).

This research is novel, in that it critically appraises virtual generative workspaces using BIM as the central conduit. The outcome and intervention of this research forms a theoretical basis for the development of a “proof of concept” prototype, which actively engages generative design into a single dynamic BIM environment to support the early conceptual design process.

This paper seeks to address issues related to the development of a knowledge‐based engineering system for estimating manufacturing cost and weight of a composite structure at the conceptual stage of a design.

The system has been developed in the CATIA V5 knowledge environment and is applied to structures made of composite materials. At the conceptual stage of the design process, a structure is often represented by simple surfaces. The system adds the details necessary to accurately estimate weight and manufacturing cost using geometry and process‐based techniques. Knowledge captured from an expert was used to construct the knowledge base in the system.

It has been found that the system can provide continuous tracking of the weight and cost as the design evolves. Structural FEA and optimisation using MSC.NASTRAN have been integrated into the design process to enables the designer to conduct “what‐if” analyses to explore different design options involving geometry parameters such as the internal configuration of the structure.

The paper demonstrates that tools embedded in CAD systems can be expected to be able to facilitate the task of estimation of weight and manufacturing cost at the conceptual stage of the design process.

Developing a reliable cost estimate at the early stage of construction projects is challenging due to inadequate project information. Most of the information during this stage is qualitative, posing additional challenges to achieving accurate cost estimates. Additionally, there is a lack of tools that use qualitative project information and forecast the budgets required for project completion. This research, therefore, aims to develop a model for setting project budgets (excluding land) during the pre-conceptual stage of residential buildings, where project information is mainly qualitative.

Due to the qualitative nature of project information at the pre-conception stage, a natural language processing model, DistilBERT (Distilled Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers), was trained to predict the cost range of residential buildings at the pre-conception stage. The training and evaluation data included 63,899 building permit activity records (2021–2022) from the Victorian State Building Authority, Australia. The input data comprised the project description of each record, which included project location and basic material types (floor, frame, roofing, and external wall).

This research designed a novel tool for predicting the project budget based on preliminary project information. The model achieved 79% accuracy in classifying residential buildings into three cost_classes ($100,000-$300,000, $300,000-$500,000, $500,000-$1,200,000) and F1-scores of 0.85, 0.73, and 0.74, respectively. Additionally, the results show that the model learnt the contextual relationship between qualitative data like project location and cost.

The current model was developed using data from Victoria state in Australia; hence, it would not return relevant outcomes for other contexts. However, future studies can adopt the methods to develop similar models for their context.

This research is the first to leverage a deep learning model, DistilBERT, for cost estimation at the pre-conception stage using basic project information like location and material types. Therefore, the model would contribute to overcoming data limitations for cost estimation at the pre-conception stage. Residential building stakeholders, like clients, designers, and estimators, can use the model to forecast the project budget at the pre-conception stage to facilitate decision-making.

The conceptual stage of building design is where the most important decisions are made, for example, in determining the choice of structural elements such as floors. However, decisions made at this stage, particularly those involving costs and speeds, are often based on subjective judgement, rules of thumb and familiarity. This paper reports on the development of a computer spreadsheet tool that employs a more objective and systematic procedure in selecting concrete floors at the conceptual design stage, in which costs and speeds are quantitatively evaluated using, respectively, the method of elemental estimating and a simple bar chart technique, but in conjunction with a specially developed “lead‐in index”method. The results of the evaluation are then tabulated and systematically ranked to facilitate selection of the best floor system. The tool would thus assist engineers to make a more well‐informed and rapid choice of floor systems at the early design stage.

As the construction industry strives for closer integration of the participants, more responsibility for the management of the detailed design process is being directed to main contractors and combined with their existing duties of managing the construction and pre‐construction processes. Crucially, this necessitates successful management of the interface between these processes, and this paper seeks to investigate a conceptual view of that interface to provide a foundation for improving understanding of it.

Recent and current literature is examined, and various theoretical backgrounds for the design and the construction processes are reviewed. The consequences for the understanding of the interface are discussed. The significance of conceptual frameworks is also reviewed.

A significant difference is identified in the published work between the theoretical understandings of the construction and design processes. From this a conceptual framework for the interface between these processes is developed.

The difference identified may have significant implications for further research, and for the development of management techniques applicable to the interface. Furthermore, the lack of access to specialist knowledge at the optimum time during the design process is identified as having a potentially significant impact on that process.

These findings could provide an understanding and basis for further research into the interface between the processes, and for the development of an enhanced model that would facilitate improved management of the interface and the optimisation of the process of the selection, appointment and input of specialist subcontractors.

The purpose of this research is to develop an integrated model for composite rotor blade manufacturing cost estimates at the conceptual design stage. The integrated model seeks to provide a rapid and dynamic feedback based on evaluating the manufacturing cost estimate for a new product design at the conceptual design stage. This paper describes the automated estimating process for design to manufacturing cost of composite rotor blade.

An integrated approach is implemented for evaluating the manufacturing cost estimates. The paper develops each module of the computer‐aided parametric model generation, time estimation models for composite manufacturing processes and decision support system. Finally, process flow data integration is done for all the modules. An example for a complicated geometric rotor blade is shown in this research paper. The results are compared in different design parameters and discussed.

The data integration for this approach was built by using ModelCenter^® software. It is easier and more robust to apply than the other proposed methods. The selection of design, material and manufacturing parameters is achieved by integrated model within a short period of time.

This paper provides an integrated concurrent approach for manufacturing cost evaluation of composite rotor blade. Manufacturing factors could be considered at the early stage of product development phase.

This paper suggests an effective and efficient way of evaluating the manufacturing cost at the conceptual stage of the design process. The concurrent engineering and integrated product process development approaches were addressed.

Aims to set systems thinking into the context of manufacturing systems management (MSM), which is defined as a functional domain that involves the necessary activities such as design, implementation, operations and monitoring, needed to regulate and optimise a manufacturing system as it progresses through its life cycle. Based on a number of key principles of systems theory, results from an extensive analysis of the relevant methodologies and techniques, and data gathered through industrial practice, a conceptual MSM framework is proposed. This framework specifies the key functional areas of MSM, outlines the contents and relationships within them, and then logically integrates these into a closed loop to provide the basis for the development of a set of consistent parameters and procedures. Its aim is to help achieve understanding of the problem domain, and to provide guidance for the development of effective mechanisms and tools for future MSM activities. A number of cases to illustrate its industrial application are also presented.