Construction operations are often repetitive not only in terms of time (the same tasks are performed over and over) but also in terms of space (the same tasks are repeated at several places, such as the different floors in a high-rise building). Thus, construction simulation models must in general be cyclic to represent temporal repetitions but also scaleable to represent spatial repetitions. This paper presents the mechanisms for preprocessor replacement and automatic code generation that have been designed and implemented to facilitate the development of scaleable simulation models in STROBOSCOPE, a general-purpose discrete-event simulation system developed by the authors. A relatively complex simulation model for the operation of an elevator in a building serves as an example to illustrate these capabilities.

Photios G. Ioannou & Julio C. Martinez
Civil & Environmental Engineering Department
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2125, U.S.A.
e-mail: photios@umich.edu

STROBOSCOPE, construction, simulation, modeling , animation, elevator, service, resource, matching, scaleable, code generator, preprocessor.