A tunnel information modelling framework to support management, simulations and visualisations in mechanised tunnelling projects

A transparent, holistic and detailed design of individual systems and processes in mechanised tunnelling is essential for a robust and low-risk construction of tunnels. In this context, the complex interactions between the ground, the boring machine, the tunnel lining and the built environment play a significant role. Traditionally, the entire tunnel design information is available in the form of independent, dispersed and heterogeneous data files. Since these data sources are barely linked in practice, unilateral decisions are made that do not consider all relevant aspects. Existing research has focused either on very general approaches of multi-model container or linked data models that have not been adapted to tunnelling projects, or on semantic tunnel models that solely cover small parts of the entire projects. In this paper a tunnel information modelling framework, basically integrating four interlinked subdomain models and linked project performance data, is presented. Due to their distinctive impact on the tunnel design and construction process a ground model, a boring machine model, a tunnel lining model, and a built environment model are first individually created, and then linked within an open IFC environment using the concepts of Proxies, Property Sets and Model View Definitions. Based on the proposed framework selected case studies are presented to verify its potential and advantages when (1) interactively visualizing time-dependent settlement monitoring data in an environment-aware context and (2) generating advanced numerical simulation models to predict settlements. These case studies are conducted using real project data of the metro tunnelling project Wehrhahn-Linie in Düsseldorf, Germany. •We present a tunnel information modelling framework.•This framework interlinks a ground model, a boring machine model, a tunnel lining model and a built environment model.•Settlement monitoring data and boring machine operational performance data is incorporated.•The framework is implemented in an IFC environment using the concepts of proxies, property sets and model view definitions.•Two case studies illustrate successful applications of the proposed framework.