Virtual trial assembly of large steel members with bolted connections based on point cloud data

Virtual trial assembly (VTA), an alternative to physical trial assembly, has been used in many projects owing to its advantages of low time consumption and low cost. However, the existing methods based on the terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) have low precision, are inefficient, and cannot guide rectification, making them impractical for large steel members with bolted connections. Therefore, this study introduces an automated approach to perform VTA using 3D laser scanning technology and building information modeling (BIM). In particular, a multi-scale data acquisition scheme that integrates a TLS and hand-held scanner is proposed to collect high accuracy point cloud data (PCD). Moreover, a rectification scheme based on particle swarm optimization is developed for gusset plates to guide rectification, and two efficient registration methods are established to align the scanned PCD with BIM model. The accuracy and feasibility of the proposed method are demonstrated through application to an actual suspension bridge.