FARO plays a significant role in contributing to modern Chinese architecture

By Niraj M Wanikar, Chief Editor, CNCTimes.com, 2016-05-27 15:54:00

Be it a skyscraper, uniquely designed building, or a well-known train station, every city has its calling card in terms of a standout building. These carry the weight of human dreams and are perfect examples of technological advancements in the construction industry. Behind each exceptional building is a fearless, innovative team of engineers and experts, and the Third Building Construction Company of China Construction Eighth Engineering Division (CSCEC83) is a reputable and fine example of one such company.
Better known as the “invincible army of construction and pacesetters of the industry”, CSCEC83 has been involved in building projects for a variety of uses, including aviation and aerospace, sports venues, super high-rise buildings, municipal mass transit, environmental protection and water resources, urban complexes, commercial and office buildings, industrial factories, as well as medical and health facilities. Testimonies to their quality of work include the Overall Assembly and Testing Plant of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, to name a few.
Challenges: Time Constraints & Profiling Requirements
In 2014, CSCEC83 embarked on a new project to construct the Jiangsu Grand Theatre and to complete the handover by June 2016. Given the large scope of the project – a total net land area of 196,633m2, and total construction area of 271,386m2 – to say that the team was hard pressed for time was an understatement. In terms of design, the theatre expresses the overarching theme of ‘Water Rhythm of Jiangsu’ through the use of a ‘Lotus Leaf Water Droplet’ as its main motif, and the entire building is made up of four ‘water droplets’ that are the Opera Hall, Concert Hall, Theatre Hall, and Variety Hall respectively.
The team understood that the project would be challenging for several reasons, such as the project’s sheer size, the complexity of coordination across multiple project departments, the short project duration, and the high expectations that come with a quality ‘Luban Prize’ project – a title conferred biennially by the China Construction Industry Association to a selective group of domestic projects. For these reasons, the team was solely focused on achieving the quality standards for this building project.
CSCEC83 was keen to maintain maximum level of control over construction quality. In order to ensure that all objectives were met, the team decided to adopt a 3D scanning method to compare the data obtained onsite with the building’s blueprint. After a comprehensive analysis of their available choices, CSCEC83 chose to go with the FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D X 330.
Building Information Model (BIM) Supervisor of the Project Department at CSCEC83, Mr. Zhang Bowei, explained, “The shape of water droplets is distinctive and poses a great challenge to the quality of our construction, as well as to the amount of control we have over this project. To overcome this immense challenge, we decided to introduce the Focus3D X 330.” Prior to making this choice, the team was using the Electronic Total Station (ETS) to test the accuracy of abnormally shaped structures by comparing structural key points. Due to the limited numbers of data points collected, the test results were inherently incomplete and unreliable. Coupled with the complex double curved surfaces on the water droplet structures, it was practically impossible for the team to achieve proper, accurate results using the ETS. On the other hand, the Focus3D X 330 could effortlessly scan the entire curved surface and provide the team with the necessary data, thus resolving the quality control issue.
Quality Control: Highly Efficient, Non-Contact Measurement Method
The Focus3D X 330 is part of FARO’s latest generation of 3D Laser Scanners. Apart from having a maximum scanning distance of 330m and the ability to scan up to 976,000 points per second, the device is relatively small and light. With a size of only 24 × 20 × 10cm and a weight of just 5.2 kg, the Focus3D X 330 is extremely portable and easy to use. The team from CSCEC83 simply had to deploy the device onsite and press the ‘start’ button. In mere seconds, the team would have acquired the data of the surrounding environment.
In conducting the structural testing of curved surfaces of the water droplets, the Focus3D X 330 was first used to collect the point cloud data. Next, the FARO SCENE software was used to integrate the scan data, followed by a comparison with the architectural design model on the Geomagic® software to check that the various design requirements were met.
This entire process is not only fast, but also highly accurate. A job that used to take an entire week or more can now be accomplished in just two days with the Focus3D X 330, which is a vast improvement to productivity.
Strict Requirements for Acoustics
According to Mr. Zhang, “The theatre has high requirements for building and architectural acoustics. This was another factor that led us to adopt the Focus3D X 330 for quality control.” The quality expectations for the Jiangsu Grand Theatre’s acoustic environment, in particular, are set extremely high. Case in point, the Opera Hall that seats an audience of 2,300 is supposed to possess natural amplification qualities. This means that members of the audience, even those seated in the corners of the hall that are the furthest away from the stage, should be able to hear an opera singer clearly without the use of a microphone.
In order to achieve natural amplification in a hall, the structural profiling accuracy must be controlled to within millimeter accuracy. With the Opera Hall’s irregular space dimensions, traditional measurement methods were unable to achieve that level of accuracy. However, using the Focus3D X 330, the team could analyze the scan data that they acquired by importing it into specific acoustic and optical analysis software. The project engineers can then effectively detect ‘dead spots’ and conduct timely adjustments or alterations.
Wider Range of Applications
Overall, FARO has enabled the team at CSCEC83 to meet the high standards of construction with ease. Mr. Zhang pointed out, “Besides quality control, the Focus3D X 330 can also be used to enhance design and deformation monitoring, such as with pipeline arrangements. We firmly believe that the application of BIM is the current developing trend, though we are still in the exploratory stages. The portability and efficiency of the Focus3D X 330 gave us a good start.”
Mr. Zhang fully expects to uncover more applications with the Focus3D X 330. He concluded, “After the success we had with this project, we plan to introduce this advanced method of quality control to our other projects in phases.”
Its business scope includes housing construction, municipal infrastructure and mass transit, equipment installation, and decoration fitting. Examples of the team’s work include the Nanjing Lukou International Airport, Nanjing Youth Olympic Conference Center, and Changzhou Zhongtian Gymnasium, to name a few.

http://www.faro.com/en-in/news-events/case-studies/2016/05/19/faro-plays-a-significant-role-in-contributing-to-modern-chinese-architecture

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