Computation-enabled Digital Twin in the Built Environment

Abstract

This study makes an original attempt to equip a digital twin (DT) for an information construct with computational capabilities to achieve an informationcomputation construct in the built environment. This attempt is achieved by developing a DT methodology for a university campus environment, enabling a twin representation of real-world construction with spatiotemporal analysis in multiple scales, integrating computation, information, and machine learning models into a cyber-physical-social system (buildings, infrastructure, and affected community) for seamless decision-making from design through construction to operation phases, and evaluating structural behaviors under extreme loads. Potential value of the campusscale DT includes the understanding of student aggregation, traffic flow, structural stability, building constructability, damage/cost scenario of existing and new buildings, and community impacts in the wake of a postulated earthquake event.