Structural Health Monitoring And Maintenance Aided By Building Information Modelling And Repair Information Tools

This paper discusses the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a backbone of Structural Health Monitoring and Maintenance (SHM2). The practice of SHM2 attempts to enhance the performance, serviceability and resilience of structural systems by integrating structural sensing, assessment and prognosis with decision-making and implementation of maintenance and repair. A significant portion of the activity collects, stores, transmits and processes information from multiple sources, typically in heterogeneous formats. This information includes visual inspection reports, sensor data, structural configuration, design documents, repair procedures, maintenance history, and economic considerations. Managing and using these information streams usually follows an ad hoc path with a custom application for each structure. A viable alternative might be to organize the information flow into a comprehensive BIM-SHM2 framework. This paper presents a two-pronged approach to this end. The first prong is top-down beginning with a draft Level of Detail (LOD) hierarchy beginning with low-level (100) descriptions of sensor and repair designs, followed by medium-level (200- 300) organized representations of sensor data mapped onto BIM structural layouts, followed by higher-level analysis and decision-influencing representations. The second prong is a bottom-up approach in which develops a BIM-SHM2 framework as part of a series of examples and applications, primarily derived from field tests on bridges and buildings. Also included is a presentation of a Repair Information Decision Making (RIMD) tool for concrete structures, and initial forays integrating with BIM and SHM2.