Agent-Based Lift System Simulation Model for High-Rise Building Construction Projects

Lift system performance in construction sites can vary significantly depending on lift traffic within the system, rendering it imperative to control this factor by limiting the range of the lift car's service floors. There are various methods of defining and combining service-floor range, and system performance can be increased or decreased depending on the extent of suitability between the planned lift system and distribution of given traffic. In designing a construction lift system, it becomes essential to carry out a quantitative performance analysis and comparison of system alternatives. However, traditional simulation methods of modeling global system processes inhibit the evaluation of multiple system alternatives with their own distinct global processes. Therefore, this study aims to address such deficiencies by developing an agent-based simulation method, beginning with a literature review on lift systems intended to examine the external and internal factors affecting system performance. An agent-based simulation method is then used by modeling the behavioral rules of system components (e.g., lift cars and workers). Simulation experiments are conducted alongside assessments of the performance of seven lift system alternatives with unique system processes. The resulting research reveals the complex relationship among configuration of service floors, lift car range, and system performance, thereby suggesting how agent-based modeling techniques can contribute to the analysis of operational-level systems with diverse global system processes. (C) 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.