| dc.description.abstract | resource driven processes. Interests in applying the computer simulation technique
for the planning and analysis of construction operations have been growing since the
introduction of CYCLONE methodology by Halpin in 1973. Numerous research
studies on various construction operations such as tunneling, bridge construction,
earthmoving, asphalt paving and so on can be found in literature. The CYCLONE’s
six standard modeling elements (namely NORMAL, COMBI, QUEUE,
CONSOLIDATION, COUNTER and ARC) is simple and easy for the field engineers
to learn and provides a convenient tool for modeling and simulation analysis of
construction operations. Many construction-specific simulation systems developed
later on use the similar set of elements for their modeling.
Nevertheless, CYCLONE’s simplicity on the other hand limits its functionality
for simulation. One of its greatest restraints is that the resource to be initialized in one
QUEUE has to be the same kind with the same attributes. For instance, in an
earthmoving operation trucks initialized in a queue must be exact the same and can
not have different loading capacity or performance parameters. As a result, when
same kind of resources but with different attributes (e.g., large trucks and small trucks)
have to be included in the system, same operating cycle must repeat for each resource
with different attributes. It complicates the system model and results in the
ineffectiveness of the simulation.
This research takes advantages of the recent development in object-oriented
design and aims at developing a new simulation system to enhance the simulation
capability of CYCLONE. The idea is to preserve the simplicity of CYCLONE’s six
modeling elements while at the same time enhance their capability for simulation
using the object paradigm. An enhanced modeling scheme and a prototype simulation
system to implement the new scheme will be developed and tested in this study.
Literature review on the development of construction simulation systems as well as
object-oriented design will be conducted. | en_US |