starting point: 

What digital twin concepts exist outside the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction sector and how can they assist a simulation of architectural manufacturing prior to construction?

This topic may include consideration of: the value propositions for simulating manufacturing during the design process, as well as the infrastructure and resources needed for computationally intensive simulation of architectural manufacturing.

project summary: 

The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector faces mounting pressure to reduce material waste and deliver projects on time and on budget. Yet, unlike the aerospace, automative and advanced manufacturing industries, building material fabrication and construction processes on site have not fully embraced the affordances of simulation, sensor-based technologies, and real-time feedback systems. Put another way, the simulation and predictive modelling of material and robotic fabrication interactions, or digital twin systems, present significant opportunities to optimise fabrication and assembly processes to reduce time and cost. 

Digital twin systems have matured rapidly in other industries, linking real-time data streams with virtual environments to optimise performance, moving beyond static design processes to integrate fabrication performance feedback in real time. Despite this, their application within architectural fabrication is limited. Many existing digital workflows that integrate Revit, Rhino and AutoCAD (e.g. BIM) can simulate geometry and generate data-rich models, but they do not typically capture the dynamics of fabrication to bridge design and production. Large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM) provides a test-bed opportunity to integrate Digital Twin simulation into the fabrication of interior-scale architectural elements, as it requires precise coordination of geometry, process control, and material behaviour.  

Accordingly, this research aims to investigate how Digital Twin approaches adopted in aerospace and automotive industries and can be mapped into architectural design-to-fabrication workflows. It will focus on identifying opportunities for process synchronisation, feedback loops, and predictive optimisation, such as live error-correction, thermal analysis and automated material tracking across life-cycle scenarios. To do this, the research adopts a design research methodology that follows iterative phases of planning, prototyping, and reflecting, and demonstrated through a case study of LFAM for interior components. Technical workflows will engage with platforms such as NVIDIA Omniverse and Grasshopper to create simulation workflows that interconnect geometry and material behaviour.  

The anticipated outcome of this research is a Digital Twin Simulation Framework for LFAM for built environment projects. The implication of this research is that the framework will enable the AEC sector to avoid costly inefficiencies and reduce material waste.