Simulating the construction of structures – an automated approach

Simulation research in construction has been focussed mainly on the modelling of construction processes. However, most construction projects involve the building of structures with complex dependencies and structural relationships among its component parts. Manually generating simulation models of such structures is extremely difficult. The problem is exacerbated in a field like construction due to the paucity of simulation expertise. This paper presents a method for circumventing the problem through the development of an intuitive and structured approach for the automated generation of simulation models using the object-oriented programming paradigm. The approach was implemented using MODSIM II and tested using a two-component structure with intra-component and sequential inter-component dependencies. The simulation outputs were compared with that of a manually generated simulation model. The implementation was further tested using a 12-component structure with intra-component, sequential inter-component and continuous partial concurrent dependencies.