Advanced design and planning system of constructional scaffolding

Scaffold systems in the construction site play an important role for a safety and a stable construction of structures. There are many kind of scaffolding systems corresponding to the structural shape and constructional... [ view full abstract ]

Scaffold systems in the construction site play an important role for a safety and a stable construction of structures. There are many kind of scaffolding systems corresponding to the structural shape and constructional condition. The design of the scaffold has been done under the safety standard as well as the designer’s knowledge. The precise design and the planning of the scaffolding system are quite difficult. Especially, the quantity surveying and cost estimation have been quite laborious. Therefore, the quantity calculations of the scaffold materials and the cost estimation have been done based on the unit volume or the unit area of the construction surface. The discrepancy between design and actual quantities of the scaffold material has been occurred very frequently. It may bring the incorrect supply of the scaffold materials and the incorrect construction schedule as well as the unsafe constructional condition.

In this paper, the automatic design method of constructional scaffold was proposed. Conventionally, the material arrangement of a scaffold was determined first considering the construction geometry. Then, the strength of the scaffold is confirmed and the quantity of the material was accounted. On the other hand, the proposed design method was programmed based on the safety standard and the designer’s knowledge. The size and the numerical quantity of the scaffold were calculated considering the relation between the scaffold and the constructing structure. Also, three dimensional positions of the individual scaffold materials were calculated and recorded simultaneously. Then, three dimensional structural drawings were made automatically using the CAD software by using the previously designed material positions.

From the proposed design method, the precise quantities of scaffold materials were obtained. Also, the drawing of the scaffold was done automatically. The proposed design method enables us to manage the construction supply and to reduce the design effort and estimation of the cost. Also, the methodology of three dimensional CAD drawing enables us to reduce the laborious drawing effort and to apply BIM and CIM software.