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Research on Prefabricated Structure Design Method Based on BIM

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CCCIS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 750 (2020) 012195 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/750/1/012195

Research on Prefabricated Structure Design Method Based on

BIM Technology

Cong Ma1,*,Yu Wang1, Haiqing Xu2

1Jining Vocational and Technical College, China, 272000
2Jining City Construction Engineering Construction Drawing Review Center, China,
272000

*Corresponding author e-mail: yueseliaoren110@163.com

Abstract: In recent years, with the rapid development of computer technology and
continuous technological progress, it has been widely used in various industries. In the
field of construction, the state advocates the development of industrialized
construction and vigorously promotes prefabricated buildings. BIM (Building
Information Modeling) technology is integrated into advanced computer technology.
With its powerful information management and interaction capabilities, the
application of prefabricated building structure design has received increasing
attention. The article expounds the application and development of new prefabricated
buildings and BIM technology, proposes the application of BIM technology to
prefabricated building structure design methods, and analyzes the theoretical basis and
main technologies that can implement the method in detail. In the end, it has prospects
for its development and application in the construction industrialization.

Keywords: building information model, prefabricated building, structural design

1. Introduction
With the continuous implementation of domestic construction industrialization, the construction
industry has become an inevitable trend in the direction of green, environmental protection, high
efficiency, industrialization and informationization. The emergence of new prefabricated building
construction methods has just adapted to the development trend of this major situation. The vigorous
development and promotion of prefabricated buildings is a major change in the construction industry
from extensive to intensive production methods, and it is also an innovation in construction methods
[1-2]. The industrial production of the building production method, the component can be scaled and

standardized production in the assembly line is a significant feature of the construction

industrialization [3]. The components are produced in a prefabricated component factory, and then
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CCCIS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 750 (2020) 012195 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/750/1/012195

transported to the construction site for assembly, eventually forming a complete fabricated building
structure. Compared with the traditional cast-in-place method, the use of this production and
construction method can fully guarantee the safety of the operator's operation process, and can greatly
improve labor efficiency, greatly shortening the production and construction cycle [4-5]. Therefore,
vigorously developing and promoting prefabricated buildings will be the general direction and trend of
China's construction industrialization development.

2. BIM technology and prefabricated building design and construction

BIM is the abbreviation of Building Information Modeling, that is, building information model. The
technology is based on various related information data of construction projects, and adopts computer
Lanwei digital technology to build a three-dimensional building model and simulate the real detailed
information of buildings. The information contained is not only three-dimensional geometric shapes,
but also incorporates many non-geometric shapes, such as parameters of building components, project
progress, and material properties. Create a rich building model database through BIM technology. The
database platform contains all the information of the building, so that project participants (such as
construction units, design units, construction units, supervision units, etc.) can use this common
platform. To share this building information model.
Compared with the traditional CAD drawing of flat graphics, BIM relying on computer software
and 3D digital technology not only stays at the level of drawing building models, nor is it just a simple
operation on geometric objects such as points, lines, and areas. Create three-dimensional models of
building components such as walls, doors, and windows, and integrate the information of these models
to make them relevant. The building model established by BIM technology is a building whole
composed of various building components [Xi, instead of a bunch of unrelated points and lines. Each
component of the entire building is objectified in the BIM platform, and the properties of each object
are described by a series of parameters. These parameters are generally defined in advance or follow
certain established rules. The properties of the building are composed of this parameter information.
For example, a wall object is an object with all the properties of the wall. It contains information not
only in terms of geometric dimensions (such as length, width, height), but also includes the
specifications, cost, material, and surface of the wall. Handling and thermal insulation properties.
Generally, in two-dimensional drawings drawn by CAD, the representation of the wall is achieved by
drawing two parallel lines, and there is no correlation between the lines. BIM can provide visual and
refined construction for the project, and it is an important technical tool for the informatization and
refined management of construction projects.
BIM is a feedforward network with global convergence characteristics with fast learning speed and
good approximation ability, and is widely used in the field of nonlinear function approximation,
pattern recognition, etc. As shown in Figure 1, BIM input signal passes the input layer node to the
hidden layer, and then each vector X is mapped to the corresponding target value Y by the implicit
layer activation function, as shown in equation (1).
Y  GW (1)
Where Y is the target matrix, G is the activation function mapping matrix of X, and W is the output
weight matrix.

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CCCIS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 750 (2020) 012195 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/750/1/012195

The conversion function of the kth node of the BIM network implicit layer is
 1 x  c 2

Gk  x   exp  k
 k  1, 2 , ,q (2)
2 
 k


x   x1 ,x2 , ,xm 
T

Where is the center of the Gaussian function of the kth hidden layer node, the
width of the Gaussian function of the kth hidden layer node, and q is the number of hidden layer
nodes.
Prefabricated building is to prefabricate some or all building components in the factory, such as
floor slabs, columns, beams, walls, etc., and then transport the components to the construction site for
hoisting and assembling into a house through various transportation machinery. In the process of
hoisting and assembling the structural parts, it is not just "lap up". After the prefabricated components
are transported to the construction site, the reinforced concrete will be overlapped and poured during
the assembly process to ensure the overall safety of the assembled building. "Integration" can be said
to be the core of prefabricated buildings, informationization is the main line of "integration", and
informationization reflected by BIM technology is the means of "integration". Traditional assembly
design and construction are often due to the separation of design, production and assembly, and any
link such as design and production is prone to irrational or error conditions, which will cause the
normal application of components, resulting in a waste of time and resources. In the design and
construction of prefabricated buildings, the integration of BIM technology can connect all aspects of
the entire life cycle of the building, realize the "five-in-one" information management of design,
production, construction, decoration and operation management, and give full play to BIM
information integration. Advantages, not just "traditional component production + assembly"
construction. Using the established BIM model to guide construction can effectively prevent errors
and information mismatches from occurring. You can also use BIM technology to pre-assemble
prefabricated components, perform simulation exercises on the BIM platform through 3D digital
technology equipment, cooperate with work and test node connection simulation to provide technical
support for the assembly building construction process.
Process Project
Engineering Information Component simulation Construction management Operation and
design modeling Component and installation Facility maintenance
production
transportation management

BIM platform

Figure 1. Integrated industrial chain integration of prefabricated building on BIM platform

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CCCIS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 750 (2020) 012195 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/750/1/012195

3. Application of BIM in the design phase of prefabricated buildings

3.1. Standardization design of prefabricated components can be realized, and design efficiency is
improved
The application of BIM technology to the design phase of prefabricated components can
better achieve the integration and sharing of component model information. Compared with
traditional two-dimensional graphic design, BIM technology uses 3D as the basis for
modeling. The information resources and libraries of prefabricated components are
established in a parametric design method. Designers can perform component material types
and sizes on the platform. The integration of information builds a "family" library of various
types of prefabricated components (such as doors, windows, etc.). Designers of various
specialties can filter and optimize the same type of "family" and add it to the "family" library
of the component resource library. As the "family" library continues to be enriched, the
standard shapes and modulus dimensions of prefabricated components will become more
standardized. The "family" library of prefabricated components created in this way helps to
improve the scientificity and rationality of general design specifications and design standards
for prefabricated building components.
The use of BIM to build a model can be roughly divided into three processes: first,
setting standards, then building models, and finally applying models. Any graphic unit in the
BIM model covers the related parameters such as the size, type, and material of the
component. All component models are set by parameters, which makes the sub-modules in
the BIM model related to each other. If the designer modifies and improves any parameter in
the component model, all the components associated with it will be updated accordingly,
which effectively avoids errors and inconsistencies between drawings. After the BIM model
is created, you can export 2D CAD drawings and the quantity table of each component
according to the actual work needs, which is fast and efficient. BIM also has the
characteristics of three-dimensional visualization. The design unit communicates with the
builder, constructor, component manufacturer, etc. through the visualized three-dimensional
model, finds design contradictions and blind spots in advance, and adjusts and improves the
design plan in time. The coordination of the participating units in the subsequent stages
provides convenience. Designers can use a variety of standardized "family" libraries to
provide a construction simulation environment for the project site, various types of work and
construction machinery to increase the design of prefabricated buildings, in order to achieve
the purpose of saving the manpower and time for the design and adjustment of the plan. It can
make the specifications of prefabricated buildings more abundant and changeable, and better
meet the diversified needs of the owners.

3.2. Collaboration among various disciplines to reduce design errors in prefabricated buildings
The structural components in prefabricated buildings must be prefabricated, then transported,
hoisted and spliced to form a whole building. From the design of prefabricated components,
to the prefabrication in the factory, to the completion of assembly, and finally to complete the
various stages of decoration, the overall collaborative design of the building is required. There
are two main parts in the overall collaborative design of the building: one is to optimize and
deepen the design within the professional, that is, the collaborative design within the
professional; the other is the collaborative design between the professional, that is, the
collision detection between the professional and its subsequent Design adjustment. The

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CCCIS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 750 (2020) 012195 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/750/1/012195

former is designed in accordance with design specifications and can meet the functional needs
of various disciplines such as architecture, structure, equipment, etc., while the latter is in
accordance with the relevant requirements of construction specifications and design to meet
the functional requirements of the owner. From the component design, component production,
assembly construction to operation and maintenance of the prefabricated building, many
professional designers are involved in each stage, such as component design, HVAC,
electrical and mechanical engineering, water supply and drainage engineering, and decoration.
Designers of various professions need to coordinate and work closely on a platform with
smooth information to better complete the entire assembly building.
A major feature and advantage of BIM technology is that it can realize
informationization and collaborative management, and provide a three-dimensional visual
design information interaction platform for the participating units of the project, so that
different professional design models can be interactively combined on the same platform.
Provide convenient channels for the collaboration of professional designers and participating
units. The prefabricated prefabricated design and construction collaborative platform based on
BIM technology is a library of BIM model resources using the IFC standard. In order to better
realize the accurate transmission of information between upstream and downstream of various
majors, the design team coordinated and coordinated the parametric design of the BIM
building model on the BIM platform, and timely found the problems and defects in the design
process. It can effectively prevent and avoid design errors between components, significantly
improve design efficiency and quality, and can provide technical support for the entire
process of construction. Figure 2 shows the characteristics of BIM technology modeling.
detailed analysis
Concept Design design
file

Manufacture

plan

Overhaul

Constructio
n 4D / 5D
Operation and Construction
tear down Maintenance logistics

Figure 2. BIM technical characteristics

The use of BIM technology for collaborative design and construction in prefabricated buildings is a
design method oriented to prefabricated components, which fundamentally changes the traditional
design thinking of whole to component separation. This method attempts to create a standardized,
general-purpose library of prefabricated components and use it to design assembly structures. After

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CCCIS2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 750 (2020) 012195 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/750/1/012195

inspection, adjustment, and optimization of the prefabricated component model, a reasonable design
plan is finally formed, and the BIM model is used to guide the production, transportation, and
assembly of the prefabricated component.

4. Conclusion
Applying BIM technology to the various stages of prefabricated building structural design, structural
model optimization, component transportation, and guidance on-site construction can give full play to
its advantages and functions. This technology enables the design and construction of prefabricated
buildings to be visualized through the parametric design of the three-dimensional model, which greatly
improves the quality of assembly component splitting and deepening design, and can also guide the
prefabricated component factory in the production and processing of components. BIM technology is
an important technical support for the current transformation and development of the construction
industrialization. When applied to the design and construction of prefabricated buildings, it will
greatly accelerate the development of construction industrialization and informationization. At the
same time, we must also be soberly aware that although the BIM technology has been used in the
prefabricated building design and construction phase, progress has been made, but there are still many
problems and deficiencies, such as the problem of node processing of prefabricated assemblies and
incomplete technical specifications. Etc. To achieve seamless integration of prefabricated buildings
and BIM technology, further exploration is needed.

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