Computer-integrated structural engineering: Supporting the structural engineer's participation in a computer-integrated construction process

The structural engineering profession faces several challenges and information technology can help in taking up these challenges. Although the structural engineering profession was one of the first in construction to use computers, the situation today is still far from optimal. The main problem is the inability to exchange electronic information between computer-supported activities. Information exchange requires considerable effort and usually results in loss of information. This will only get worse in the future. More and more computer support becomes available, which will result in even more electronic information. The time and effort required for management and communication of this information will increase. The solution is computer-integrated construction: a computer-integrated process where information is easily accessible by anyone and can flow from one activity to another with the click of a mouse. This poses a new challenge for the structural engineering profession: to participate in computer-integrated construction. The purpose of the research presented in this thesis is to help in taking up that challenge. The research tries to answer the question how computer-integrated structural engineering as part of computer-integrated construction can be realised. The thesis consists of three parts. The first part analyses the problem in detail. It analyses the structural engineering process, the state-of-the-art of computer-aided structural engineering and the state-of-the-art of product-data technology for computer-integrated structural engineering. The second part proposes a framework for conceptual information models that support the communication of information. It develops three models in this framework that are directly related to computer-integrated structural engineering: (1) a model for communication with all actors in construction, such as the architect and the mechanical and electrical engineer, (2) a model for more detailed communication with all actors responsible for the structural system, such as the supplier of structural elements, and (3) a model for exchange of even more detailed information between structural engineering activities, such as design and analysis. The third part evaluates the proposed solution in two cases: integrated viaduct design and structural engineering and integrated building design and reinforced-concrete engineering.