Headwaters helped Shimizu Corporation develop AI to support its structural review work!

Shimizu Corporation, which aims to improve the efficiency of structural review work, cooperates with Headwaters, which develops AI solutions business.

Structural study work refers to the study and setting of structural framing and member cross-sections according to the shape and scale of the building and other plans. With the recent increase in the number of projects to be designed, it is not unusual for plans to change frequently or for multiple projects to be considered simultaneously in the early stages of design. Such changes and studies are accompanied by structural review work, which increases the burden on the structural designer, but the work is carried out by utilizing the expertise and knowledge of each structural designer.

Shimizu Corporation has developed SYMPREST as a digital design method to improve the efficiency of structural review work and enable speedy proposals to developers.
Headwaters and Headwaters Consulting collaborated in the development of "SYMPREST" through a one-stop model for the entire process (project planning, PoC, system development, maintenance/operation/additional learning) of building structure processing database required for AI learning.

Shimizu Corporation News Release: "AI Supports Structural Examination Work in the Early Design Phase" (Japanese only)
https://www.shimz.co.jp/company/about/news-release/2023/2023035.html

Shimizu Corporation "SYMPREST" Overview

SYMPREST is applicable to relatively shaped steel-framed office buildings with a height of 60 m or less. When the shape and dimensions of the office building under consideration are entered, SYMPREST instantly extracts several structural frames from the database that roughly match the shape, and displays the frame quantities as well.
The AI then constructs a 3D model on the monitor that reflects the assumed cross-sections of all the members that make up the structure. The 3D model can be converted into input data for structural analysis programs used in the implementation design, which greatly reduces the time and effort required for analysis preparation.

In the development process, we developed an algorithm to automatically generate structural framing for training data for the AI, and have generated structural framing data for approximately 1,500 office buildings of various sizes and shapes under the conditions of 15 floors or less (no basement) and a maximum of 10 spans in each direction. By training SYMPREST on these data, we have increased its proficiency in estimating the cross-sections of members. In the future, we plan to expand the functionality of the AI by generating structures for applications and structural types other than office buildings.

About the future

Shimizu Corporation is expanding its unique digital platform, Shimz DDE, which combines its manufacturing DNA with the latest in computational design to promote sophistication and efficiency not only in structural design, but in design work in general.

Headwaters and Headwaters Consulting will utilize their experience in cooperating in the development of SYMPREST, as well as their technical expertise in AI and DX, to support Shimizu's efforts.

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