Autogeneration of simulation network of the design process

Abstract

Simulation techniques have been used for modeling design process in the construction industry. Nevertheless, developing a simulation model is a great challenge and knowledge demanding. Moreover, unlike the manufacturing process, every design project is unique in nature and not repetitive, and a model developed for one project cannot be readily applied to another. In view of this, a generalized model for design process is proposed herein, which is able to autogenerate the whole network for a project based on the dependency relationships of design activities. It uses the concepts of activity specific nodes and links to model the internal processes of design activities, and connecting nodes and links to model the information flow between activities. Any design network can be readily modeled using only a few nodes and links in the generalized model. The model is found to be efficient in saving the tedious job of developing a simulation model. Its effectiveness is then demonstrated with a case study of 83 design activities, which requires a total of over 1,500 nodes and 2,700 links. This is autogenerated using only a mere 35 nodes and associated links with the generalized model. © 2010 ASCE.