Automated bridge modelling for digital twins : parametric modelling vs. surface modeling techniques for geometric-semantic model creation

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Mansour, Mohamed and Blankenbach, Jörg; Moreno-Rangel, Alejandro and Kumar, Bimal, eds. (2025) Automated bridge modelling for digital twins : parametric modelling vs. surface modeling techniques for geometric-semantic model creation. In: EG-ICE 2025. University of Strathclyde Publishing, GBR, pp. 76-85. ISBN 9781914241826 (https://doi.org/10.17868/strath.00093228)

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Abstract

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is transforming construction practices, but its application to existing assets remains challenging due to discrepancies between original designs and as-is conditions. Moreover, also Digital Twins require accurate geometric-semantic as-is models, which are traditionally labor-intensive to create. This paper presents a fully-automated approach for generating as-is models of bridges by comparing parametric and surface modeling techniques using semantically segmented 3D point cloud data. The methodology employs Evolutionary Strategy optimization for parametric modeling and RANSAC-based quadratic fitting for surface modeling, focusing on capturing complex geometries like horizontally curved bridges. As expected, our comparative analysis reveals that surface modeling achieves much better accuracy with 60% lower RMSE (0.05m vs. 0.126m) in our case study and requires 90% less processing time (1.2 minutes vs. 12 minutes) than parametric modeling. Both approaches successfully generate Industry Foundation Class (IFC) models, providing standardized geometric-semantic representations suitable for lifecycle BIM and Digital Twin applications.

  • Item type:Book Section
    ID code:93228
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    1 July 2025
    Published
    9 June 2025
    Accepted
    Subjects:Fine Arts > Architecture
    Department:Faculty of Engineering > Architecture
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:26 Jun 2025 14:51
    Last modified:13 Oct 2026 00:20
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/93228
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