IFC-based product modeling for tunnel boring machines

The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard has proven to be very successful in the exchange of data used in Building Information Modeling (BIM). Although the main focus of IFC is the definition of building entities, such as walls or columns, the IFC specification also includes more abstract classes to define relationships, properties, elements or resources. Based on the framework of classes as defined by current IFC standard, this paper explores the possibilities of extending the established IFC class hierarchy to additional engineering fields, in this case, mechanized tunneling and underground engineering. In particular, a set of new IFC-compatible classes are introduced to model tunnel boring machines (TBM). Additionally, a work flow is described to preprocess a TBM model designed in common CAD software in order to store it in a Product Server System. Finally, a case study of an underground engineering project is presented that uses the introduced IFC classes to model a TBM and employs a software tool to visualize IFC-based models.