SYNERGIZING BUILDING DATA AND SEISMIC RISK: AN AUTOMATED BIM-BASED DESIGN APPROACH

Alon Urlainis; Roee Levy; Shabtai Isaac

Abstract:

In recent years, BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodologies have become an essential and effective tool for managing a civil engineering project in all its stages. BIM technology provides comprehensive digital insights into a building or infrastructure's structural and non-structural elements. This study introduces a practical, BIM-based framework designed to serve as an intuitive decision-support tool, enabling seismic risk-aware design choice from the early stages of the project. The framework combines a BIM model with seismic risk data such as fragility curves and hazard curves. The process begins with inserting a generic placeholder component into the BIM model. The system then identifies possible alternatives with predefined fragility parameters and calculates seismic risk using location-specific hazard curves. An acceptable risk threshold is defined by the user, and the component with the lowest cost that meets this threshold is selected and automatically updated in the model. The current implementation is focused on MEP components and demonstrated through a case study involving a diesel generator in a wastewater pumping station. Results highlight the benefits of shifting seismic design considerations to early stages. While the current study operates at the component level, future work aims to expand the framework to analyse whole systems and incorporate multi-hazard scenarios. The presented approach enhances the integration of risk and cost into early design, supporting more resilient and efficient infrastructure planning.