KTH Architecture and the Built Environment Civil and Architectural Engineering Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan BIM Software Capability and Interoperability Analysis An analytical approach toward structural usage of BIM software (S-BIM) Master thesis in Building Technology No. 442 Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering March 2016 Ali A. Taher Supervisors Folke Björk, KTH Building Technology Kjartan Gudmundsson, KTH Building Technology PREFACE In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful, are the best words ever which I start this thesis with. All praise and thanks belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings of Allah be upon the last Prophet “Mohammed” and upon his pure and generous family. This research presented in this thesis was carried out at the department of civil and architectural engineering at the royal institute of technology (KTH) 2015. I would also like to express my thanks and sincerest gratitude to my supervisors; Professor Folke Björk, with the inestimable advice and guidance of associate professor Kjartan Gudmundsson, to whom I want to thank for providing valuable reviewing, thoughtful feedback and comments the final report to present this master programme thesis. I am particularly thankful to a number of people who do not work with me but have been friends for the last three years of my life in Sweden, for your support and for all those nice moments, we have spent together: Dr. Saif Wahid Jasim, Dr. Ahmed M.Qasim, Basil Jawad, Mohamed Ameen, Firas Jawad, Safa Alkhazraji & Khalid Agha. I apologize to those whose names I did not mention, but who should also be here. Last but not least of course, I wish to express my deepest appreciation to my beloved mother, for her infinite love, devotion, encouragement and support that words cannot truly express, my kind brothers and sisters and their families, for their endless encouragement and support, and finally to my father, a great man whom we all missed. Stockholm, March 2016 Ali Abdulhasan Taher I II ABSTRACT Over the past few decades, major advances have occurred in computer technology to optimize technical solutions. BIM is more than drawings it has played a major role in building design and modelling, construction and maintenance information. Thus, BIM established itself as an alternative to CAD technique, where BIM can be used for views, sections, elevations, and quantity takeoff. Because of its advantages and the ease and simplicity of modelling process, the use of BIM is growing rapidly and becoming more popular than CAD. Nowadays BIM has no specific standard common platform and number of competitors, compatibility issues occur since every provider of BIM software such as Autodesk Revit, and Rhino BIM that have a common platform namely IFC, CIS/2 and ISM. This study focused on the structural analysis of BIM models. Different commercial software (Autodesk products and Rhinoceros) are presented through modelling and analysis of different structures with varying complexity, section properties, geometry, and material. Beside the commercial software, different architectural and different tools for structural analysis are evaluated (dynamo, grasshopper, add-on tool, direct link, indirect link via IFC). Keywords: BIM, S-BIM, Autodesk Products, Revit, Robot Structural Analysis, Dynamo, STAAD pro, Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, Tekla, Karamba, IFC, ISM, CIS/2. III IV CONTENTS PREFACE ................................................................................................................................................................ I ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................. III LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................. V LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................................... NOTATION ................................................................................................................................................................. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES .............................................................................................................. 3 1.1.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................... 4 1.1.2 HYPOTHESES & EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE ....................................................... 4 1.2 THESIS OUTLINE .............................................................................................................................................. 5 1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW & STUDY BACKGROUND .................................................................................... 6 1.3.1 THESIS BACKGROUND LITERATURE STUDY AT A GLANCE ............................................................ 7 1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................... 7 1.4.1 STRATEGY OF INQUIRY & STEP ANALYSIS .......................................................................................... 8 1.4.2 TOWARD A COMPARING PLATFORM OF ANALYSING ....................................................................... 8 1.4.2.1 EXPERIMENTAL MAPPING & VISUALIZATION ................................................................................. 9 1.5 RESEARCH SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS ....................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 2: BIM SOFTWARE & DATA MODELS .................................................................................... 11 2.1 BIM, ORIGINS & ELEMENTS ........................................................................................................................ 13 2.1.1 BIM SOFTWARE ........................................................................................................................................... 15 2.1.1.1 REVIT BUILDING APPLICATION ........................................................................................................... 15 2.1.1.2 RHINOCEROS & RHINOBIM .................................................................................................................... 18 2.1.1.3 DYNAMO REVIT + GRASSHOPPER RHINO, NEW TECHNIQUES .................................................... 19 2.1.2 STRUCTURAL BIM (S-BIM) TOOLS ......................................................................................................... 21 2.2 BIM & DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS & MODELS .............................................................................. 21 V 2.2.1 THE INDUSTRY FOUNDATION CLASSES (IFC) .................................................................................... 22 2.2.2 THE CIMSTEEL INTEGRATION STANDARDS (CIS/2) .......................................................................... 24 2.2.3 INTEGRATED STRUCTURAL MODELING (ISM) .................................................................................. 24 CHAPTER 3: ANALYSIS OF S-BIM FOR AUTODESK AND RHINOCERS PRODUCTS FOR SIMPLE 2D STRUCTURES ....................................................................................................................... 27 3.1 ANALYSIS METHODS .................................................................................................................................... 27 3.2 STRUCTURE-1 SIMPLY SUPPORTED STEEL COLUMN (LATERAL- TORSIONAL BUCKLING TEST) .......................................................................................................................... 31 3.2.1 RESULTS OF TEST (1) ................................................................................................................................. 33 3.2.3 EVALUATION OF TEST (1) ........................................................................................................................ 36 3.3 STRUCTURE-2 SIMPLY SUPPORTED TIMBER BEAM ............................................................................ 38 3.3.1 RESULTS OF TEST (2) ................................................................................................................................. 41 3.3.3 EVALUATION OF TEST (2) ........................................................................................................................ 45 CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS OF S-BIM TOOLS (IFC, CIS/2) FOR 3D STEEL STRUCTURE ................... 47 4.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 47 4.2 ANALYSIS METHODS .................................................................................................................................... 49 4.3 TESTS BASIS .................................................................................................................................................... 51 4.4 DATA EXCHANGE FROM TEKLA STRUCTURES (BIM) TO REVIT ..................................................... 53 4.4.1 EXPORT TO REVIT VIA IFC ....................................................................................................................... 54 4.4.2