The application of model based system engineering requirements in a BIM centric virtual railway model

However, while systems engineering is well established in sectors from aerospace to computer science, it has not managed to translate its success within the construction sector. This research explores that gap and sets out a method through a series of papers.</p><p dir="ltr">To address issues with resource deployment for intensive modelling techniques and avoid wasted effort, the research first explored a data driven approach to complexity identification.

Graph and network theory methods were deployed on the existing electronic document management systems to provide a novel objective means of defining sufficiently complex areas of a mega project’s electronic document management system. The analysis demonstrated the highly interconnected documents sets, where 20 queries identified 294 associated artifacts and 413 relationships. Centrality and betweenness analysis provided visual and filterable means of decision-making for information deployment, allowing practitioners to validate previously unidentified relationships between documents that improved the existing datasets.</p><p dir="ltr">The thesis then sets out a novel theoretical framework using a combination of tools to both create and connect the data.

The SysML language and Model-Based Systems Engineering methodology are used to abstract the existing requirements into a traceable machine-readable architecture. The means of connecting the SysML data through semantic web technologies was then explored to provide a means of interconnectivity and querying of the data once aggregated. The second paper identified procedural steps and tools required to connect the information and allow for visualisation of the requirements in a digital model.</p><p dir="ltr">The final section of the thesis iterated on the case study of the second phase, to extend the fire safety system model and the associated SysML models used to abstract requirements from the existing DOORS database, engineering standards, and project documentation into a traceable machine-readable architecture.

It then demonstrated how the data can be exchanged and aggregated to allow for a future of requirements compliance visualisation using BIM data.</p><p dir="ltr">This research synthesises the three interconnected studies to provide a novel framework for identification of modelling effort and integrating requirements into construction industry digital twin models, enabling more informed decision-making and improved project outcomes.

Connecting requirements models empowers project teams when making complex decisions with emergent consequences that may be trapped in discipline silos. The capability of linking requirements to digital information models is critical for those interfacing with the assets in their lifecycle: for designers as they evaluate the impact of engineering decisions, for managers who balance and trade off requirements when conflicts arise during the delivery of a project, and for asset operators as they optimise the utilisation of their assets.

If the research is deployed in conjunction with future capability improvements, such as cloudBIM in building information modelling and API connections to the model-based systems engineering models, the framework helps to enable a truly connected digital twin able to complete the feedback loop required between the asset’s capability requirements and operational decisions.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p>