Press Release
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Discovery of uranium-contaminated soil purification material without secondary environmental pollution
Discovery of uranium-contaminated soil purification material without secondary environmental pollution- Hexagonal boron nitride’s applicability for the purification of actual uranium-contaminated soil -
Nuclear energy has long been regarded as a next-generation energy source, and major countries around the world are competing to secure cutting-edge technologies by leveraging the high economic efficiency and sustainability of nuclear power. However, uranium, which is essential for nuclear power generation, has serious implications for both soil ecosystems and human health. Despite being a key radioactive material, uranium poses significant health risks due to its chemical toxicity to the kidneys, bones, and cells. As a result, both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization recommend allowing and advocating for uranium concentrations in wastewater to be below 30 μg/L.The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim, Byung-suk) has conducted research on a nano-material-based adsorption process to efficiently remove uranium wastewater extracted from actual radioactive-contaminated soil. They have also proposed its applicability to prevent secondary environmental pollutions.Radioactive wastewater, an inevitable by-product of nuclear energy generation, requires post-treatment to minimize ecological impact and associated risks. Although this process involves intricate procedures and substantial costs, various methods have been employed to treat radioactive wastewater from uranium-contaminated soil. These methods include chemical precipitation, evaporation, electrochemical techniques, membrane separation, and adsorption/ion exchange. Among these, chemical precipitation using injected chemical agents is commonly employed in practical applications. However, considering factors such as cost-effectiveness, environmental friendliness, practicality, and renewability, adsorption processes emerge as particularly suitable for uranium wastewater treatment.Boron nitride (BN), a material that has garnered attention as an effective adsorbent due to its high mechanical strength, acid resistance, and significant surface area, is renowned for its impressive performance in wastewater treatment through adsorption processes. However, research on the actual treatment of uranium wastewater using hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has not yet been conducted, leaving the applicability of boron nitride (BN) for real uranium wastewater treatment as an unknown factor.The research team at the KICT, led by Dr. Rho, Hojung, has comprehensively evaluated the adsorption performance of h-BN nano-materials for uranium wastewater treatment. They explored various operating and water environmental conditions, including exposure time, temperature, initial uranium concentration, background ions (such as NaCl and MgCl2), and Humic acid (HA). The study suggests that boron nitride (BN) can be effectively applied for uranium wastewater treatment. Additionally, they conducted a reusability test on h-BN, which efficiently adsorbed dissolved uranium, further demonstrating its high reusability.
Furthermore, through the analysis of experimental variables such as initial uranium concentration, exposure time, temperature, pH, and the presence of background ions or organic matter, the research team conducted a ‘feature importance analysis’ using the artificial intelligence-based Random Forest algorithm. As a result, they discovered that temperature, cations, and organic matter have minimal impact on adsorption performance, marking this study as the world’s first of its kind.This study is expected to contribute to minimizing potential harm to the environment and human health by enabling more efficient treatment of soil contaminated with radioactive wastewater generated from nuclear power plants.Dr. Rho said, “The conventional precipitation method for purifying uranium-contaminated soil using chemical agents leads to secondary environmental pollution.” He further revealed that “utilizing boron nitride (BN) nano-adsorbents for uranium treatment ensures high reusability without the need for chemical agents, making it a novel environmentally friendly nuclear waste disposal method.”
###The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, a government-funded research institute with 40 years of extensive research experience, is at the forefront of solving national issues that are directly related to the quality of the people’s life. This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) and Commercialization Promotion Agency for R&D Outcomes (COMPA) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (RS2023-00233235), An article explaining the results of this research was published in the latest issue of Journal of Hazardous Materials, a renowned international journal in the Environmental Science field (IF:13.6).
Regdate 2024/05/02
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Reproducing the Moon's Surface Environment on Earth
Reproducing the Moon's Surface Environment on Earth
- Implementation of an electrostatically charged environment to accelerate lunar base construction efforts -
Continuous research is being conducted globally on using the Moon as an advanced base for deep space exploration, and Korea is no exception in these efforts. The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim, Byung-suk) successfully implemented an electrostatic environment that simulates the Moon's surface conditions, not in space but on Earth. The researchers also assessed its performance and effectiveness.
Among the most serious threats in executing lunar missions is the Moon's surface environment, which is electrostatically charged. Due to its extremely thin atmosphere, the Moon is directly exposed to solar ultraviolet rays, X-rays, solar wind, Earth plasma, etc. Thus, clouds of dust on the Moon exhibit strong static electricity. The Moon's electrostatic environment is positively charged during the day and negatively charged during the night.
Given that the Moon has nearly no atmosphere, dust can be easily blown away even by small impacts due to the minimal air resistance. Electrostatically charged regolith particles may cause severe damage to space exploration devices when they become stuck on them. For example, when stuck on PV cells, these particles degrade electricity generation efficiency. In manned missions, they can damage space suits that protect astronauts, or penetrate the respiratory system, resulting in life-threatening consequences.
KICT's research team led by Dr. Shin, Hyusoung (along with senior researcher Chung, Taeil and Dr. Park, Seungsoo) developed a chamber designed to simulate electrically charged conditions. The aim is to implement an electrostatic environment that resembles the Moon's surface.
The chamber developed by KICT incorporates ultraviolet lamps, electronic beams, and plasma generators to positively or negatively charge the surfaces of test objects. Going forward, this equipment can be used to electrostatically charge a replica of lunar soil using ultraviolet radiation and electron beams. It will help to determine how much material adheres to rovers and to anticipate potential problems. This technology goes beyond simply conducting electrostatic charging to simulate the Moon's electrically charged environment under various conditions, such as day or night environments and while being influenced by Earth plasma.The greatest achievement of this research work lies in the developed equipment's ability to measure, in a quantitative and independent manner, the amount of photoelectric current generated, which has the most significant effect on the charging of lunar dust during the day of the Moon. The error between the experimental measurement obtained in this research and the corresponding theoretical value was within approximately 5%, demonstrating the reliability of the developed technology.
As such, KICT's attempts have been successful not only in reproducing a Moon-like environment where soil dust remains electrostatically charged but also in developing assessment technology for it. This research work has laid the groundwork for equipping a large-scale dirty thermal vacuum chamber (DTVC) with the developed equipment to implement an electrostatically charged environment and further assess its performance.
Dr. Shin said, “Our research presents the possibility of effectively integrating the full-size DTVC, developed by Korea for the first time in the world, with lunar dust charging technology. This solution will serve as a test bed for a series of technologies to implement in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) on the Moon in the future, addressing and responding to a range of potential technological challenges posed by electrically charged lunar dust. ###This research was supported by the KICT Research Program (project no. 20230081-001, Development of Environmental Simulator and Advanced Construction Technologies over TRL6 in Extreme Conditions) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT. An article explaining the results of this research was published in the latest issue of Aerospace, a renowned international journal in the Aerospace engineering field.(IF: 2.6, JCR quartile: Q1 in ENGINEERING, AEROSPACE category).
Regdate 2024/02/27
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Development of new construction technology; quick and easy to build like Lego
Development of new construction technology; quick and easy to build like Lego- No on-site operations required, leading to reduced construction periods and costs cut by 30% -
The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, led by President Kim Byung-suk) announced the development of a new modular construction method capable of building structures by assembling modular components within a short time, particularly in cases of emergencies or disasters. The modular construction method involves fabricating about 70 to 80% of the major members and components of the target structure in factories in advance and then transporting them to the construction site to complete the construction with simple assembly and installation processes. This method is differentiated from conventional field operation-oriented construction methods. This novel method is increasingly recognized as a key construction solution for the future across the globe thanks to its significant contribution to addressing the risk of safety accidents while reducing construction periods. Compared to conventional construction methods, this approach generates less noise, dust, and waste, and modular components used in this method can be recycled or repurposed later, contributing to the promotion of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management.The new modular construction method developed by a research team of KICT (Dr. Lim, Seok-Ho and Dr. Chung, Joon-Soo) is suitable for use in structures in which a box-type infill module whose floor, inner walls, and roof are prefabricated in a factory is plugged in a U-shaped PC module with a wall-type load-bearing structure. The U-shaped PC module includes a floor and two side walls, and the infill module is inserted through its upper opening. Modules are prefabricated in a factory and simply assembled at the construction site, leading to a faster and more straightforward construction process. The method developed by Dr. Lim, Seok-Ho's research team allows for the straightforward assembly of infill modules by lifting them up and placing them down into the target U-shaped PC module using a crane, thereby eliminating the need to use separate vehicles to move them. Moreover, its plug-in assembly method, in which modules are lifted up and placed down into the target modules, contributes to enhanced constructability. The detailed procedure of the developed modular construction method is as follows. ① Install PC modules, ② Insert box-type infill modules and lift up and stack the integrated sets of PC modules and infill modules, ③ Install roofing, and ④ Install stairs and corridorsThe developed technology not only reduces construction periods but also enables easy installation and disassembly through plug-in assembly, in contrast to conventional construction methods that rely on on-site operations using cast-in-place concrete and steel modular frames. Moreover, this approach results in reduced self-load and work volume because modules are stacked in a single slab mode. Additionally, the use of a fire-resistant concrete structure eliminates the necessity for external finishing operations. More importantly, optioning for PC modules prefabricated in a factory as an alternative to steel frames, along with infill modules that require no on-site operations, including interior finishing, enhances both cost-effectiveness and constructability simultaneously.In 2023, the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced a blueprint for promoting the use of the modular construction method not only in new rental houses within the Seoul Metropolitan area but also in third-generation new towns, with the aim of accelerating housing supply. In line with this development, new orders in Korea's modular construction market are expected to increase from 800 billion won in 2019 to 2.4 trillion won by 2024. The new modular construction technology developed by KICT is considered to meet the needs of the Korean government for expanding the housing supply while effectively accommodating the expected increase in new orders in the market. Not only that, structures built by this method can be easily disassembled later, when necessary, in the reverse order of the assembly procedure. The disassembled modules can be recycled or repurposed, constituting a genuine resource circulation system for production. This technology is expected to find applications in various fields, with potential uses ranging from negative pressure hospital rooms for infectious disease prevention and military bases or barracks to houses for less privileged people, as well as for export purposes.Dr. Lim, Seok-Ho remarked, "The developed modular construction method will offer effective solutions for addressing environmental issues in the construction industry and housing shortages. Conventional methods using steel modules are deemed less cost-effective compared to concrete construction methods. In contrast, this technology significantly reduces construction costs and diminishes the need for a large portion of on-site operations, resulting in shorter construction periods compared to conventional concrete construction methods, all thanks to the mass production of repeated sets of necessary modules." ###The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, a government-funded research institute with 40 years of extensive research experience, is at the forefront of solving national issues that are directly related to the quality of the people’s life. Research for this paper was carried out under the KICT Research Program (project no. 20230064-001, Development of Modular System and Establishment of Supply&Operational System that can respond immediately to disasters) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Regdate 2023/12/21
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Newly developed floating trash interceptor cleans up the river
Newly developed floating trash interceptor cleans up the river - 30% Reduction in waste disposal cost per ton
To reduce marine debris, which causes serious environmental pollution in the sea, researchers at the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim, Byung-suk) have developed a technology for reducing floating debris in rivers.
Since the river is the main transportation channels for land-originated marine debris, the research team led by Dr. Sang Hwa Jung launched a living lab project involving local governments, local citizens, and experts. Chungcheongnam-do (also known as Chungcheongnam Province and Chungnam) has the third longest coastline in South Korea, with a total of 500 rivers and streams in the region. The amount of marine debris in Chungnam has been increasing every year, and marine debris flowing in through rivers accounts for about 61.2% of the total. Accordingly, Chungnam installed and operated an interceptor facility in 2019, but structural damage occurred during heavy rains and floods, which needed to be resolved. The main reason for this damage is that the structure and functions of the interceptor were not designed in consideration of the geometry and characteristics of the river (water level, width, flow rate, water level change, etc.). In addition to ensuring the structural safety of the interceptor, the project's key objectives were to develop and test an interceptor facility with collection support functions for convenience of collection, responsiveness to changes in water levels of rivers, and monitoring functions to identify appropriate collection timing. Dr. Jung's research team conducted research in the following stages: characterization of the target river, selection of the optimal river point, design of the barrier, support piles, and connections, and on-site construction of the interceptor facility. In particular, the design and construction of the interceptor facility was carried out jointly with Foresys Co., Ltd., and the numerical model experiment and full-scale empirical tests were carried out at the River Experiment Center in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do.
The River Experiment Center covers an area of 192,051㎡. The center has the largest testing infrastructure in South Korea with a flow supply capacity of up to 10 ㎥/s, providing an optimal empirical testing infrastructure. Utilizing the outcomes of this study, an interceptor facility was constructed and put into operation in May 2023 on the Yugu-cheon (also known as Yugu Stream) located in Gongju, Chungnam. During the project, a monitoring system was built based on the opinions of local governments to determine the appropriate collection time and check real-time information on the operation status. Based on the image data acquired through this, a support system was also developed. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the amount and composition of floating debris in the river and determine the appropriate collection cycle. "Garbage that enters the sea is difficult to collect due to its wide spreading nature and contains impurities (salts, mud, etc.) that increase the cost of cleaning-up process, so it is necessary to intercept and collect it from rivers before it enters the sea," said Dr. Jung. He also emphasized that "by combining traditional river engineering with advanced technologies such as information technology and AI, these technologies can solve local problems and global environmental problems furthermore." The project is highly anticipated by the local community for the living lab-based convergence technology development and sustainability. The interceptor facility and monitoring system installed at Yugu-cheon will be in operation and continuously improved until 2026, and discussion with relevant local governments is underway to spread the results to other rivers in the future.###The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, a government-funded research institute with 40 years of extensive research experience, is at the forefront of solving national issues that are directly related to the quality of the people’s life. This research was funded by the "Development and Demonstration of Land-based Debris Barrier System for Stream (2022-2023, jointly conducted by Foresys Inc.)” project implemented by the Ministry of Science and ICT (National Research Foundation of Korea) as a research project for finding engineering solution of local government issues.
Regdate 2023/12/06
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Contactless Coupler, the Innovation and Advancement in the Connection of Precast Concrete Member
Contactless Coupler, the Innovation and Advancement in the Connection of Precast Concrete Member-Secure and robust connection of precast/modular structures with easy and simple assembly! -
The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim, Byung-Suk) has developed a new Contactless Coupler that can efficiently improve the constructability of precast concrete (hereinafter referred to as PC).Recently, Off-site Construction (OSC) has been actively used worldwide to solve the problems at complex construction sites. The OSC method minimizes on-site work by prefabricating parts of the structure and then simply assembling and constructing them on-site. In particular, Korean construction sites are promoting OSC to solve the problem of aging skilled workers and labor shortages.The PC method, one of the representative OSC methods, is a method of manufacturing and constructing large structural members with divided reinforced concrete. The conventional rigid connection method to connect PC members directly connects two rebars facing each other at the PC connection. This method requires separate rebar processing and fitting a coupler device. If a rigid connection is not secured, it can cause damage to the structure due to poor construction.
The Contactless Coupler, newly developed by the KICT research team (Research Director: Dr. Kim, Kun-Soo), does not require a separately processed rebar and is very easy to install. The Contactless Coupler utilizes the bonding force between the rebar and concrete instead of the direct connection of the rebar. The tensile stress generated by the rebars installed in the Contactless Coupler is transformed into the bonding force, then transferred to the 'spiral bar' and finally to the 'connector bar.' Here, the expanded ribs that make up the Contactless Coupler play an essential role in reducing the development length of the coupler by maximizing the bonding force.Dr. Kim's research team conducted beam tests, tensile tests, and real-scale tests to verify the structural performance of the Contactless Coupler. Despite the significant reduction in construction difficulty compared to the existing method, the structural performance required for the coupler was satisfied.
"Contactless Coupler's excellent performance and ease of use can be used in various OSC construction methods," said Dr. Kim, Kun-Soo, also adding that "In the future, the Contactless Coupler is expected to have a great effect on preventing manpower problems and safety accidents at construction sites based on its easy constructability." The core technology of the Contactless Coupler is patented by PCT (International Application No.: PCT/KR2023/010116). The research team is currently researching construction automation, modularization, and lightweight and will develop new design codes and predictive formulas to expand the utility and applicability of the Contactless Coupler.
Dr. Kim, Kun-Soo
###The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) is a government sponsored research institute established to contribute to the development of Korea’s construction industry and national economic growth by developing source and practical technology in the fields of construction and national land management.The funding for the research was provided by the Ministry of Science and ICT. An article explaining the some cases results of this research was published in the renowned international journal, Engineering Structures, in September 2023. (IF:5.5)
Regdate 2023/11/29
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BIM-based Digital Collaboration Platform, Initiating Construction Digitalization
BIM-based Digital Collaboration Platform, Initiating Construction Digitalization - Implementation of BIM-based digital collaboration platform as key driver of digital transformation in construction industry - Development of world-class collaboration platform in compliance with international standard (ISO 19650)
A Korean research team has developed a BIM-based digital collaboration platform that allows construction owners and engineers to collaborate with each other on digital design tasks.
The importance of digital transformation has been increasingly recognized worldwide. Digital transformation refers to the process of leveraging digital technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and big data, to innovate conventional operating systems. The Korean government is actively working toward achieving digital transformation in the construction industry by 2030, with a primary focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM), fundamentally changing the ways construction tasks are performed and information management systems work.
From a conventional perspective, collaboration in the construction sector is often seen as merely sharing an integrated workspace. However, this approach comes with drawbacks associated with space rents, difficulties in properly managing collaborative information, and ambiguity in defining roles and responsibilities. These problems can be addressed by establishing an integrated digital work environment for collaboration.
Against this backdrop, the BIM Cluster Research Team (led by Dr. Hyounseok Moon) of the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim Byung-suk), developed a cloud-based BIM collaboration platform aimed at digitalization of collaboration in order management and design tasks for the first time in Korea. The developed technology thoroughly complies with the Common Data Environment (CDE) system for BIM information management proposed by the international standard ISO 19650. It also integrates BIM order placement and design collaboration processes into an online environment.
The developed platform streamlines conventional order placement and design collaboration processes, reducing the time required by more than 30%. This platform integrates more than 20 BIM files to concurrently visualize, review, approve, submit, and manage them. Another key advantage is that it allows for real-time collaboration, regardless of when or where you are, through a digitalized construction work environment, eliminating the need for printed documents.
The research team established an online environment for digital collaboration while developing its own cloud environment to ensure data security across public facilities. For services using overseas public clouds, in particular, it is possible to build a platform that complies with a customized cloud environment while ensuring data security.
Predefined unit functions for collaboration are made available as open sources through a collaboration tool development framework. These features allow anyone to develop the online collaboration tools they want, adding scalability to this approach. Additionally, the research team has implemented an integrated web-based visualization viewer, specifically designed to visualize various BIM data for review on a single screen, including various meetings; issue management; schedule management; BIM data review, approval, and management; BIM models; documents; drawings; and images. This viewer facilitates online collaboration among relevant stakeholders, enabling them to work together seamlessly.
The researchers have recently developed an online collaboration web service in the form of software as a service (SaaS). This open-source-based integrated viewer allows various documents, drawings, and models to be visualized and displayed on a single screen. All these functions empower multiple team members to collaboratively review BIM models and efficiently record and address relevant issues in real time. Furthermore, when linked to commercial software packages and platforms (Autodesk, Bentley, etc.), this system also facilitates the seamless exchange and sharing of any BIM data created by engineers, demonstrating exceptional versatility and interoperability.
The developed platform can be an attractive, cost-effective option for countries, including Korea, aiming to establish their own BIM collaboration platforms that meet international standards.
Dr. Hyounseok Moon, who led the project, said, "There will certainly be a transition from traditional work processes reliant on written documents, offline interactions, and manual labor to BIM-based digital collaboration processes. The platform developed by KICT will significantly contribute to this digital transformation across the construction industry."
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The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, a government-funded research institute with 40 years of extensive research experience, is at the forefront of solving national issues that are directly related to the quality of the people’s life. This research was funded by the "Development of BIM-based Digital Collaboration Platform supporting Order and Design Process for the Infrastructure Projects(2022-2024, jointly conducted by Basissoft, Saman, NHNInjeINC, SangSangJinHwa, Korea Express Corporation)”project implemented by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement) as a research project for promoting road construction and traffic technology.
Regdate 2023/11/27
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State-of-the-art Nanomaterial Enabling Ecofriendly Removal of Fine Dust Precursors
State-of-the-art Nanomaterial Enabling Ecofriendly Removal of Fine Dust Precursors- Development of world's first alkaline ceramic nanocomposite material that can reduce fine dust precursors at room temperature in an eco-friendly manner
Over the past decade, fine dust conditions in Korea have worsened, as perceived by the general public, with an increase in the number of days per year featuring high-concentration fine dust. Additionally, the previous maximum fine-dust concentration level has been surpassed. In response, the Korean government has expanded its financial investment in efforts aimed at addressing fine-dust issues. Fine dust consists of particles that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. When these particles enter the human body through the skin and respiratory system, they can cause various diseases. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Environment Institute, three in ten people in Korea have experienced fine dust-induced diseases. Notably, NO2 and NO, among the main components of exhaust gas, are known as sources of fine dust. Against this backdrop, the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim Byung-suk) has developed a material for key components that can absorb NOx and SOx in an eco-friendly and efficient manner. Currently, selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and flue gas desulfurization (FGD), based on oxidation-reduction reactions, are among the most widely used methods to remove NOx and SOx in the field. These techniques, however, require large amounts of thermal energy and high temperatures. Simply put, they are high-energy-consuming methods. As an alternative, the ‘Environmental Nanomaterials Laboratory’ under the KICT's Department of Environmental Research has recently developed a material that can immediately mineralize pollutants via a complex mechanism in which SOx and NOx is easily adsorbed and oxidized at room temperature. Another advantage of the state-of-the-art nanocomposite material developed by a research team led by Dr. Jiyeol Bae is that it can be regenerated for recycling through simple chemical treatments, so that it can be repeatedly reused. This ceramic nanomaterial, composed of sodium-manganese oxides, is a hybrid material that combines adsorption and oxidation reactions, which chemically absorbs SOx and NOx while immediately mineralizing them into sulfate ions and nitrite ions. The research team published the world's first paper on materials capable of mineralizing acid gases at room temperature. They will continue their study to make the developed material more widely applicable as an energy-efficient and eco-friendly solution for efficiently reducing SOx and NOx gases. Dr. Jiyeol Bae, who led this project, said, “With the development of this novel nanomaterial, it is now possible to implement a system that can reduce fine-dust precursors from urban environments in an eco-friendly and cost-effective manner. All these efforts will help the general public enjoy clean and healthy air.”
###The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, a government-funded research institute with 40 years of extensive research experience, is at the forefront of solving national issues that are directly related to the quality of the people’s life. The research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT, of the Republic of Korea. An article explaining the results of this research was published in the 13 issue of Scientific reports this year, a renowned international journal in the environmental and chemistry field (IF:4.997).
Regdate 2023/11/20
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Discovery of Factor Causing Deviation in Apartment Impact Sound insulation
Discovery of Factor Causing Deviation in Apartment Impact Sound insulation- Characteristics of the floor slab identified as the primary cause of insulation variation -
Impact sounds, such as footsteps or items dropping from neighboring units, are particularly bothersome in apartment complexes. Such noises can invade one's personal space. In newly built apartments, soundproofing structures like floating floors are employed to minimize these disturbances. The choice of materials and structural designs can significantly dampen sounds, resulting in a more peaceful living environment.
To gauge noise transmission within buildings, the heavy-weight impact sound is assessed. However, even within the same building and with identical layouts, variations in performance can arise when the same floating floor is used. Surprisingly, there has been a scarcity of scientifically documented cases explaining these performance discrepancies. This lack of data has led to an absence of consistent methods to manage and ensure performance uniformity.
Researchers in South Korea have shed light on the factors causing deviations in impact sound performance. The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim Byung-Suk) conducted on-site measurements to analyze the impact sound across different units within a building.
Through observation of the spatial distribution of heavy-weight floor impact sounds according to household location, it was discovered that the similarity of sounds in households on the same floor was higher than in those located on different floors. This phenomenon is likely attributed to households on the same floor sharing a consistent floor slab.
Dr. Shin said, "The Korean government implemented a policy in August 2022 to randomly sample and analyze 2% of total households based on their house plans. Recognizing the factors that influence heavy-weight impact sound will aid in selecting sample households for measurement. Moreover, for construction companies, this insight can serve as foundational data for designs that consider floor impact sound."
The conclusions drawn from this study are anticipated to provide a vital foundation for more effectively managing impact sounds in apartment complexes.
###The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, a government-funded research institute with 40 years of extensive research experience, is at the forefront of solving national issues that are directly related to the quality of the people’s life. The research was conducted backed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean Government. An article explaining the results of this research was published in the issue of Applied Acoustics, a renowned international journal in acoustics with broad impact in engineering applications (IF:3.4).
Regdate 2023/10/26
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KICT Develops Scan to BIM for Reverse Engineering from 3D Vision Data
KICT Develops Scan to BIM for Reverse Engineering from 3D Vision Data- Newly developed cost-effective technology -
Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (President Kim Byung-suk) has developed building scan to BIM (Building Information Modeling)-based reverse engineering technology required for 3D geospatial information modeling domains such as digital twin information modeling.Scan to BIM-based reverse engineering technology was studied to prevent errors and rework caused by manual work when modeling shapes or BIM from 3D scan data. Existing reverse engineering work is either done based on a lot of manual work or semi-automatically using expensive overseas software.KICT Research Fellow Dr. Kang Tae-wook and the international joint research team (University of North Florida, Prof Jonghoon Kim., Purdue University, Prof Kyubyung Kang., IUPUI, Prof Dan Koo., The State University of New York, Prof Jongseong Brad Choi) developed Scan to BIM technology customized for each reverse engineering purpose based on accumulated 3D vision, deep learning, and data processing pipeline technologies.
This technology automatically segments objects from 3D point cloud data, extracts shape information, and creates BIM objects. Through this, information model creation time and rework required for digital twins can be dramatically reduced. In this regard, productivity analysis cases were presented through SCIE paper (Kang, 2023, Scan to BIM Mapping Process Description for Building Representation in 3D GIS, Applied Sciences). According to published data, this technology improves reverse engineering productivity by 23.7 times and improves the amount of modeling information by 110.21%. Additionally, this technology can be customized depending on the purpose.
This technology is used for 3D precision map construction, 3D vectorizing, abnormal pattern detection during construction site safety management, precise construction management, and 3D digitalization of spatial information using the location, size, and direction information of objects required from scanned image data, etc. It can be used as a base technology that can be used in vision-based robotics and autonomous driving support systems.
The developed technology is being tested on-site with a scan reverse engineering company (BNG Co., Ltd) collaborating with Trimble Building Point in Korea and overseas partner organizations. In addition, for the development of the industry, some technologies were open-sourced and shared on GitHub (github.com/mac999/scan_to_bim_pipeline).Dr. Kang said, "Currently, Scan to BIM reverse engineering automation technology is difficult to specialize for each purpose in construction, and the cost for the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) industry to utilize the technology is also high." "The recently developed Scan to BIM technology will greatly help AEC domestic industrial competitiveness," he added.###The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, a government-funded research institute with 40 years of extensive research experience, is at the forefront of solving national issues that are directly related to the quality of the people’s life. This achievement is a research result related to the ‘3D vision & AI based Indoor object Scan to BIM pipeline for building facility management (2023)' project of the Korea Construction Research Institute's international research project.
Regdate 2023/10/23
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KICT Develops Road Pothole Filtering Program based on AI
KICT Develops Road Pothole Filtering Program based on AI- Establishing an Efficient Emergency Response System Using an AI Pothole Inspection Tool -
The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim Byung-Suk) has developed a 'Road Pothole Filtering Program' to establish an emergency road restoration system for frequent pothole occurrences.
Commonly referred to as 'the landmine of the road,' potholes are a road damage phenomenon in which parts of the asphalt sink into bowl-like depressions. Potholes occur when a significant amount of rainwater infiltrates the road surface, weakening the ground below and causing the asphalt pavement to collapse under the weight of passing vehicles.
The occurrence of potholes has increased as abnormal weather phenomena such as heavy rainfall and heavy snowfall, which has spiked due to the recent global warming. Potholes that form on roads cause inconveniences for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. They also lead to various levels of traffic accidents.
The KICT research team led by Dr. Moonsup, Lee, has developed a new pothole filtering program. The server-based pothole filtering program, which will be added to the Public Data Management System (PDMS), is designed to review primary pothole information detected by the pothole detection program. The pothole detection program, operated by the Land Management Office, under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is a mobile-based application used for detecting potholes. However, high-specification programs cannot run on mobile devices due to limitations in device performance. As a result, for initially detected pothole information, it is necessary to implement a system that filters out objects resembling potholes, such as shadows, lane markings, and tires.
The research team has developed and trained an artificial intelligence algorithm to exclude objects other than potholes from the primary pothole information transmitted to the server, effectively selecting the real ones. Once the training of the pothole filtering program is complete, it proceeds to inspect the primary pothole information. Its algorithm was designed to use the inspected potholes and other objects as training data for further program enhancement.
Dr. Lee’s research team has established a system using the developed pothole filtering program to automatically transmit verified pothole information to the road maintenance personnel of the Land Management Office every 3 hours.
Dr. Moonsup. Lee, the lead researcher, said, 'We anticipate that the newly developed system will reduce the processing time of emergency pothole restoration on roads.‘
###The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) is a government sponsored research institute established to contribute to the development of Korea’s construction industry and national economic growth by developing source and practical technology in the fields of construction and national land management.The results of the study on the program for pothole detection using artificial intelligence were presented at Maireinfra 2023 (2023.08.16-19), a prominent international conference in the field of infrastructure.
Regdate 2023/09/18
