Improvement of Interoperability of IFC for Geometry and Location of Structural Members

Abstract The purpose of this study is to improve the interoperability of IFC for the basic data such as the size of member section, length, thickness, reference location, and eccentricity of the structural members. For this, the method to represent the basic data of structural member is proposed. In the proposed method, the most important criteria is the way that engineers recognize and treat the basic data of structural members. Then, in this study, an IFC file is generated based on the proposed method for a simple RC building composed of members and it is examined that the correct basic data can be derived from the IFC file in the way that engineers do in practice. From the results of the examination, the proposed method is expected to improve the interoperability of IFC for the basic data. Key Words : IFC, Interoperability, Shape, Location, Structural Members * Corresponding Author : Jong-Hyun Jung(Kyungnam Univ.)Tel: +82-55-249-2681 email: ironbell@kyungnam.ac.krReceived October 15, 2013 Revised (1st January 6, 2014, 2nd February 4, 2014) Accepted February 5, 2014