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Open Access 2023 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

Application Practice of 3D Integration of Pipeline Information in Large-Scale and Complex Project Sites-Take Changsha Airport Addition and Alteration Project as an Example

verfasst von : Cheng Jiang, Xiaogang Dai, Yinqiang Huang, Jinlei Li

Erschienen in: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Innovative Solutions in Hydropower Engineering and Civil Engineering

Verlag: Springer Nature Singapore

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Abstract

Based on the practice of Changsha Airport Addition and Alteration Project, this paper refines, studies and summarizes the type, integration and interaction of pipeline information in large-scale and complex project sites, According to the whole life cycle of the Project, four types of pipeline information, including self-owned attribute, system attribute, management attribute and additive attribute, are sorted out. In actual engineering projects, there are two modeling ways, Method I: direct BIM design modeling, Method II: transformation and modeling after CAD design. The difference between Method I and Method II mainly sits on the difference in presentation form. One is three-dimensional and the other is two-dimensional. However, the base of both of them representing pipeline information is attributes and data. As long as these attributes and data can be extracted, information integration can be realized and applied to project management in the later stage. Based on the integrated research on the airport pipeline information, a corresponding BIM collaboration and management and control platform has been developed for the Project, and research results have been applied to the actual management of the project pipeline in an exploratory way, so as to achieve the project management requirements of the airport pipeline in terms of design, progress, cost, prefabrication and processing, and prepare for the later digital delivery and intelligent operation and maintenance management.

1 Project Overview

The Changsha Airport Addition and Alteration Project (hereinafter referred to as “the Project”) covers an area of more than 1100 ha, including an airfield area (including a runway and a taxiway), a parking area of 148 aircraft stands, a passenger terminal area, a freight terminal area, a working area, access roads and a central axis avenue outside the building line. The construction area is 1,048,800 m². In addition to a Passenger Terminal and a Ground Transportation Center (GTC), multiple supporting single buildings, municipal roads, viaducts, underpasses, municipal pipe networks, comprehensive pipe racks, civil air defense basements will also be built, covering more than 20 disciplines such as architectural, structural, municipal service road, landscape, etc. The total length of various site pipeline is up to thousands of kilometers.

2 Classification and Data Structure of Site Pipeline Information

The site pipelines of large-scale and complex projects generally include seven types of basic pipelines: water supply, sewage, rainwater, heat, gas, electricity and communication. In addition, there are special professional pipelines such as aviation oil at airport sites. Airport pipeline information is the basis and important link for building a “smart airport”. These pipeline information are generated by several participating units by using professional design software. Therefore, whether it is the integration of original internal information generated by design software or the information exchange integration of external software/platforms, all kinds of pipeline information need to be classified, summarized, supplemented and confirmed on the integration platform according to the actual situation. Among them, the most important is to uniformly classify the types of pipeline information.

2.1 Type of Pipeline Information

According to the whole life cycle of the Project, the Project is divided into design, construction, operation and maintenance stages. In the Project, four types of pipeline information, including self-owned attribute, system attribute, management attribute and additive attribute, are sorted out according to the requirements for professional design software and its use in subsequent stages, as well as the commonness of pipeline information. See Fig. 1 for details.

In addition to the first three types of basic pipeline information, data can also be extended through additive attribute type. Additive attributes can be added through XDATA (AutoCAD), feature set (AutoCAD Civil 3D), attribute table (AutoCAD MAP 3D), plug-in provision, secondary development and other methods.

2.2 Data Structure of Pipeline Information Library

According to the designed pipeline attribute type, and the built-in data structure of professional software, the data structure of pipeline information is supplemented and redefined, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

3 Creation of 3D Model of Site and Pipeline

After the data structure of BIM pipeline model is established, the suitable BIM design software can be selected for 3D modeling. However, in actual engineering projects, due to the design habits of designers and their inadaptability to BIM software, most design units still use 2D method based on cad for preliminary design of sites and pipelines, and then submit them to modelers for conversion into 3D models through corresponding software. Therefore, there are also two modeling ways in the Project: direct BIM modeling and BIM model transformation after CAD design. The technical routes of these two modeling methods are as follows.

Method I: direct BIM design modeling: The Project involves many design units. A small number of them use 3D BIM software (Revit, Civil 3D, OpenRoadcc, etc.) to carry out 3D site and pipeline design, and directly build 3D model of pipelines. The results are 3D models and 2D drawings. After proper processing, 3D models can be directly imported into the project BIM management and control platform for information integration and various applications. The technical route is shown in Fig. 5.

Method II: transformation and modeling after CAD design: In the Project, most design units still use 2D method based CAD for site and pipeline design, and the results are still 2D drawings. In order to integrate pipeline information into the BIM collaboration and management and control platform of the Project, participating or construction units need to conduct 3D processing on 2D drawing results, convert them into 3D models and supplement the missing pipeline information, import them into BIM collaboration and management and control platform of the Project, and integrate with models generated in Method I for information integration and various project management applications in the later stage. The technical route is shown in Fig. 6.

4 Integration and Interaction of Site Pipeline Information

4.1 Export of Site Pipeline Information

The created pipeline BIM model can export various geometrical information and attribute information of the required pipeline through “direct export”, “plug-in export”, “export.shp” and other methods according to the different application platforms/software in the later stage, such as SuperMap, Unreal4 Revit, and Revizto. The commonness of these plug-ins is that they are installed in Revit software. Users need to first open the Revit software and click “Export” button to export the required data. Some plug-ins also provide the function of model lightweight.

Although there are many ways to export pipeline information, data planning must be done in advance. Before selecting the integrated software/platform, developers of the other party should consult the design method and data structure of the native software in detail, and comprehensively consider the integration and fusion of the design software in the early stage and the integration platform in the later stage necessary for final seamless connection of pipeline data.

4.2 Integration of Site Pipeline Information

The difference between direct BIM modeling and 3D model transformation after CAD graphic design mainly sits on the difference in presentation form. One is three-dimensional and the other is two-dimensional. However, the base of both of them representing pipeline information is attributes and data. As long as these attributes and data can be extracted, information integration can be realized and applied to project management in the later stage. Therefore, these two design methods have been coexisting in the current design reality, and 2D graphic design is not completely denied because of the emergence of 3D design.

Meanwhile, the design software used in these two design methods has certain information integration capabilities. For example, for Tangent Water Supply and Drainage Software (AutoCAD plug-in), which is commonly used in CAD design, although design units often only use its 2D drawing function, the pipeline in it is a 3D entity from the 3D perspective, and the attributes of the pipeline, such as material, diameter and height, are also displayed in the feature bar. In addition, the software can automatically summarize all pipe types, length, and number of valves and fittings. This in itself is a certain degree of pipeline information integration. Although Tangent software is inferior to foreign BIM software (such as Revit) in 3D cooperation with other disciplines, it is better than foreign software in terms of convenience and localization of professional design. Therefore, at present, it still occupies a large market share in China.

For another example, some design units use Hongye Municipal Pipeline Software for site design. This is because the software is mainly aimed at municipal engineering. Compared with Tangent Water Supply and Drainage Software, it is more professional and comprehensive. Similarly, the software also can provide complete pipeline attribute and information integration, including 3D pipeline and tube well display, as well as quantity statistics and summary of pipeline, tube well and equipment.

BIM 3D software is oriented to 3D and multi-discipline collaboration at the beginning of design. Therefore, the concept of BIM 3D software is more advanced. For example, Revit developed by Autodesk and Openroad developed by Bentley, which are most commonly used in the building industry, have been widely promoted and used in China. Taking Revit as an example, in addition to the pipe material, pipe diameter, height, specification, system, length and other attributes of the pipeline, the software can flexibly add other types of attribute information to the pipeline, and conduct statistical analysis on the ancillary facilities of the pipeline and pipe fittings through BOM function to achieve the initial collection of pipeline information for design/construction/operation and maintenance. However, due to some problems existing in these software and poor localization and industry adaptability, they have not completely replaced 2D design software in China.

4.3 Interaction of Site Pipeline Information

After the information of various pipelines and sites is integrated into an unified platform, the pipeline information between the upstream and downstream of the same pipeline, between different pipelines, and between the pipeline and the site can be interacted through professional fusion and evaluation, so as to provide various professional analysis for the pipe network in the site [1].

(1)

Condition query: Query various information of the pipeline according to user needs through the integration and interaction of upstream and downstream data of the whole pipeline; conduct all-round query operations on the pipeline and pipe points in terms of space, facilities, areas and fields;

(2)

Pipeline statistics: Summarize and count the length, quantity, weight, amount and other information of the pipeline according to user needs through the integration and interaction of upstream and downstream data of the whole pipeline;

(3)

Cross and vertical section analysis: Reflect the buried depth of various pipelines underground and the space among pipelines in a 3D visual and intuitive way through the interaction of spatial information among pipelines and the height information from the ground;

(4)

Pipe break analysis: Analyze the pressure fluctuation and the degree of influence on upstream and downstream pipelines after a pipe break to determine the number of valves to be closed through the interaction of upstream and downstream pipelines;

(5)

Collision analysis: Analyze the net distance among pipelines to determine whether the design is reasonable through the interaction of spatial information among pipelines;

(6)

Pipe network flow direction and flow analysis: Realize the creation of pipe network flow direction model through the interaction of 3D pipe network scene model data, and query the specific flow direction and flow of the pipeline in a given area according to user needs;

(7)

Pipe network connectivity reliability analysis: Calculate the connectivity probability from the source point to the sink point in the pipe network, and use it as the connectivity reliability index of the pipe network through the interaction of 3D network scene model data, so as to analyze and judge the degree of importance of the pipeline section in the pipe network, and check whether the two points in the pipe network are connected;

(8)

Excavation analysis: Realize the ground excavation analysis and relevant pipeline data statistics under any excavation surface, and provide 3D ground excavation simulation of any area through the interaction of spatial information between pipeline section, pipe point and excavation surface;

(9)

Early warning analysis: Provide early warning for pipeline sections that may have problems through the interaction between production time of pipe materials and environmental data;

(10)

Accident influence scope analysis: Analyze the degree of influence of pipeline accidents on users around accident areas through the interaction between the spatial information of the pipeline route and the influencing radius of the destructive accident.

At present, all mature pipeline management software in the building market can realize the above functions, as shown in Fig. 7 Function Module of Underground Pipeline System [2].

4.4 Collaboration and Management and Control Platform of Site Pipeline Information

To get through the information integration and work collaboration of all links in the management of the Project, especially the collaborative design in the early stage, the Project strives to build a BIM-based airport pipeline information collaboration and control platform based on and centered on the pipeline BIM model. With B/S architecture and 3D model, the platform can track, collaborate and control the Project in the construction period from design, progress, cost, quality, prefabricated pipe fitting processing and other aspects, so as to improve project production efficiency, increase construction quality, control construction progress and construction cost.

In addition to meeting the current project applications and functions, the platform development also pays special attention to the following two aspects to ensure the unity and scalability of the platform [3].

Ensure Unity: Uniqueness, Standardization, Precision and Intelligence. The foundation of platforms is data, and the core of data is unify, including unity of structure, standard and interface. Therefore, the steps to unify data are to build a unified system and data standards for the generation and collection of upstream and downstream data sources, gather the data processed according to the standards into the library for unified management, establish an authoritative and unique site pipeline database for the realization of associated storage of attribute data, graphic data, and control data based on pipeline information, and provide intelligent tools for multi-source heterogeneous data collection and processing to improve data processing efficiency and accuracy. The database supports multiple data aggregation methods, and automatic parsing and loading of data in multiple formats (including word, jpg, Word, JPG, PDF, Excel, CAD, SHP, GDB, systems, and archives (paper/scanning)).

Face the Future: Exportable, Extensible, Connectable and Fusible. With the continuous progress of technology in the future, there will certainly be new platforms, new technologies and new languages. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the exportability of original data and process data, or ensure the connectivity of the system, so as to facilitate good migration/integration into the new system. At the same time, with the progress of technology, VR, AR and other visualization technologies will be integrated in the later stage. For example, when mobile phones/AR helmets are used to observe underground virtual pipeline, the flow rate, temperature and other information of the liquid in the pipeline can be monitored in real time through the IoT technology, and pipeline information can be displayed in mobile phones/PCs/webpages and other platforms through cloud technology.

5 Application Practice of Pipeline Information in Project Management

At present, the Project has entered the construction stage. Based on the integrated research on the airport pipeline information, a corresponding BIM collaboration and management and control platform has been developed for the Project, and research results have been applied to the actual management of the project pipeline in an exploratory way, so as to achieve the project management requirements of the airport pipeline in terms of design, progress, cost, prefabrication and processing, and prepare for the later digital delivery and intelligent operation and maintenance management [4].

5.1 Application in Project Design Management

The Project is large in scale, involving more than ten major design units. Through the BIM collaboration and management and control platform built, the collaborative design mode based on BIM platform is realized for all design units. The combination of online and offline methods is adopted to improve the collaboration efficiency. With the BIM collaboration and management and control platform, the project department can coordinate the design interface, spatial relationship and technical cooperation scheme, find and resolve design conflicts in advance, and achieve the refined management of project design. Figure 8 shows the design collaboration interface. For some forward design contents, the competent design department innovates the management mode of design engineering with the help of this new collaboration and management and control platform, directly incorporates project management into the design process, advances the afterwards management of the old mode, and achieves event management. At the same time, it incorporates the user department into the design process by using the advantages of “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) BIM design. The user department’s interpretation of design results and review of functional requirements greatly improve the quality of design results and shorten the design cycle and the time required for confirmation.

5.2 Application in Project Cost Management

The Project covers a wide area of land, with complex and numerous types of pipelines, the total length of which is up to thousands of kilometers. Therefore, if the 2D design is adopted in quantity calculation, a large amount of original data should be exported from the 2D software for manual calculation. For example, when calculating the pipe length, inspecting well depth and trench earthwork quantities, it is necessary to manually input the well number, pipe diameter, pipe length, original ground elevation, design elevation, and pipe invert elevation into Excel tables, and calculate the quantities based on the data exported from the software and the quantities formula. However, it is easy to make mistakes when manually extracting elevation data from drawings, which will cause errors in the calculation of quantities.

After using BIM software to complete the site pipeline design, the pipeline information can be automatically integrated, the standardized data can be provided according to the requirements of the system, and the real quantities can be quickly and automatically calculated in the form of BOM, as shown in Fig. 9, which can be compared with the bill of quantities for bidding to avoid omissions and large deviations in the quantities. At the same time, the technology of automatically obtaining quantities from BIM software can be easily used for later project change management, and the change amount can be quickly calculated according to the change of quantities, which can be used for determining change level and speeding up the change process [5].

5.3 Application in Project Progress Management

In the Project, the BIM collaboration and management and control platform integrates the 3D model of the pipe network, the quantity information, and the completion time information of project nodes. By formulating corresponding rules and automatically associating time parameters with components in the model, a BIM progress control model can be finally formed. By using these basic data and comprehensive data, the project department can schedule and control the construction schedule of the Project, so as to meet various functional requirements of construction schedule management, as shown in Fig. 10. The BIM model can store all the information in the whole life cycle of the airport pipeline, realizing the information coexistence and integration of multiple disciplines, the information sharing, transmission and query through the platform with centering on the pipe network model, and the whole process management of the construction progress [6].

BIM technology can also be used to simulate the method statement, which can be comprehensively rehearsed before the formal construction, exposing problems in the rehearsal process, and promoting construction units and relevant staff to take effective preventive measures in advance, which can largely ensure the construction progress and quality.

5.4 Application in Project Prefabrication and Processing Management

The Project has very high processing accuracy and quality requirements for prefabricated pipeline components. If there are mistakes in the design scheme or prefabricated components in the production process, it will have a serious impact on the later construction. In order to avoid this situation, the design scheme of prefabricated components shall be effectively verified according to the actual situation before production, and communication shall be made with relevant departments to accurately express the design intent, so that the design information can be accurately transmitted to the production link and ensure the consistency of information.

The traditional pipeline production and installation is to measure, divide, prefabricate, transport, store and assemble pipes on site according to 2D construction drawings and on-site construction conditions. The traditional program has many problems, such as complicated calculation process, troublesome material quality management and low manufacturing accuracy, which greatly affects the accuracy of final components. The integration of pipeline information based on BIM can well solve the above problems, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. BIM technology can generate accurate pipe section splitting before construction based on digitized 3D visual model data, attribute parameters and spatial relations of pipelines and pipe fittings, and count the size, specification and quantity in the form of BOM, so as to achieve the project objective of accurate production and control of prefabricated pipeline components.

5.5 Application in Digital Delivery and Intelligent Operation and Maintenance Management of Project

In the Project, the BIM collaboration and management and control platform is used to integrate various information and data of the airport pipeline, including drawings, design data, construction data, operation and maintenance data, based on and centered on the pipeline 3D model data, as shown in Fig. 13.

With the continuous progress of airport construction, various information and data of the airport are being improved and accumulated. At the later completion stage, the platform will submit a BIM completion model (LOD500 in depth) that contains the same information as the field for digital delivery. If the operation and maintenance data is added to the platform, the platform can completely provide a comprehensive and accurate 3D digital baseboard for the intelligent operation and maintenance of the airport, which will continue to play a role in the long-term operation and transformation of Changsha Airport in the future, and lay a solid foundation for building a safe, smart, green, humanistic airport.

6 Summary

In summary, this paper investigates and analyzes the whole process of pipeline information integration from design → operation and maintenance, points out that the two design methods have native pipeline information integration, analyzes the platforms and software that can be used for pipeline information integration on the market, sorts out and formulates pipeline attribute tables, attribute attachment methods, export and import platforms and other workflows, and carries out the application practice of airport pipeline information integration in the design and construction stages based on the research. It covers design management, cost management, prefabrication processing management, digital delivery and intelligent operation and maintenance management, which has reference value for realizing airport/large-scale project pipeline information integration and digital application.

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