Digitalisation of restoration practices: »HeriTech« research project launched
Restoring and retrofitting historical buildings in accordance with the regulations for listed buildings poses major challenges for the trades involved – both financially and technically. In future, digital technologies should facilitate the planning and implementation of revitalisation and maintenance measures. The state of Thuringia has awarded the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar around €1.25 million to research new value chains until December 2023.
Engineering students at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar believe intelligent, digitally networked technologies will enable traditional trades to tap into potential that was previously unheard of. Within the »HeriTech« research project on digital technologies for trades and cultural heritage, scientists from the fields of construction engineering, structural mechanics and architectural theory have teamed up with the Ilmenau University of Technology and the Materials Research and Testing Institute in Weimar to investigate how new technologies could be used to restore monuments.
»The project aims to boost the productivity of the trades and to develop new methods for reproducing historical building elements«, explains project coordinator Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kraus from the Professorship for Steel and Hybrid Construction at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Virtual 3D replicas of existing buildings and monuments form the starting point. The digital building duplicates are faithful, true-to-scale reproductions, which can be created automatically and used for diverse restoration and tourism purposes. Work on structures that are difficult to access or dilapidated usually involves extensive safety precautions and a huge time investment for the trades involved. Digital visualisation and planning tools allow work to be carried out independently of these local conditions in addition to the automated creation of accurate prototypes. Digital methods could thus help reduce the burden on the trades.
Automated visualisation and analysis
Intelligent, digitally networked technologies are being used to create the virtual 3D replicas, which have the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar has already successfully tested. They are based on automated recordings and visualisations of the building structure obtained using drones equipped with high-resolution digital cameras, which generate aerial photographs of the buildings’ condition. Detailed, multi-scale 3D models are then generated by means of photogrammetry and complementary laser scan data. In the next steps, the images are analysed to automatically detect structural damage such as cracks, misalignment or deformations, and customised revitalisation measures are digitally planned using simulations. The huge quantities of data generated in the process are linked to modern concepts of building information modelling (BIM) via flexible interfaces and made available to all trades independently of time and place.
The virtual building duplicates can then serve as 3D templates for the trades and be converted into physical models by means of additive manufacturing processes and especially 3D printing – entirely or in part. This enables the fast and cost-effective production of everything from samples and prototypes to tools and spare or supplementary components with individual geometries and batch sizes.
»HeriTech« – digital technologies for trades and cultural heritage, 2020–2023
Project period: 1 January 2020–31 December 2023
Funding provider: Thuringian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society
Funding sum: €1,248,200
Participating professorships:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kraus (steel and hybrid construction), in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Guido Morgenthal (modelling and simulation of structures), Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Carsten Könke (structural engineering and component strength), Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Tom Lahmer (stochastics and optimization), Prof. Dr. phil. Ines Weizman (junior professor for architectural theory) and Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Jean Pierre Bergmann (TU Ilmenau, production technology)
Contact
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kraus
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Professorship for Steel and Hybrid Construction
Tel.: +49 (0)36 43 / 58 44 77
Email: matthias.kraus@uni-weimar.de