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This paper explores the development of a smart Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) platform tailored for long-span bridge monitoring, using the Forth Road Bridge (FRB) as a case study. It discusses the selection of smart sensors available for real-time monitoring, the formulation of an effective data strategy encompassing the collection, processing, management, analysis, and visualization of monitoring data sets to support decision-making, and the establishment of a cost-effective and intelligent sensor network aligned with the objectives set through comprehensive communication with asset owners. Due to the high data rates and dense sensor installations, conventional processing techniques are inadequate for fulfilling monitoring functionalities and ensuring security. Cloud-computing emerges as a widely adopted solution for processing and storing vast monitoring data sets. Drawing from the authors' experience in implementing long-span bridge monitoring systems in the UK and China, this paper compares the advantages and limitations of employing cloud- computing for long-span bridge monitoring. Furthermore, it explores strategies for developing a robust data strategy and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twin (DT) technologies to extract relevant information or patterns regarding asset health conditions. This information is then visualized through the interaction between physical and virtual worlds, facilitating timely and informed decision-making in managing critical road transport infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the digital transformation journey of a small and medium enterprise (SME) based in the UK. With the proposed digital transformation archetype, the paper highlights the improvement in various key performance indices (KPIs) for the case SME. The core KPIs and operational KPIs show improvement through the technology adoption as part of the digital manufacturing initiative. While embracing technology, such as Industry 4.0, it is important to highlight the importance of the change and other benefits of technological changes. The paper uses socio-technological system principles to achieve a successful transition. An action research approach and a specific soft system thinking methodology known as Process-Oriented Holonic (PrOH) modeling were used in this paper. A digital twin architecture is presented in the paper that showcases the use of integrated technologies for a digital manufacturing roadmap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital twin (DT) research field is experiencing rapid expansion; yet, the research on industrial practices in this area remains poorly understood. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap by sharing feedback and future requirements from the manufacturing industry. The methodology employed in this study involves an examination of a survey that received 99 responses and interviews with 14 experts from 10 prominent UK organisations, most of which are involved in the defence industry in the UK. The survey and interviews explored topics such as DT design, return on investment, drivers, inhibitors, and future directions for DT development in manufacturing. This study's findings indicate that DTs should possess characteristics such as adaptability, scalability, interoperability, and the ability to support assets throughout their entire life cycle. On average, completed DT projects reach the breakeven point in less than two years. The primary motivators behind DT development were identified to be autonomy, customer satisfaction, safety, awareness, optimisation, and sustainability. Meanwhile, the main obstacles include a lack of expertise, funding, and interoperability. This study concludes that the federation of twins and a paradigm shift in industrial thinking are essential components for the future of DT development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a vision of creating bridge digital twins as virtual simulation models of bridge assets to facilitate remote management. Bridge model updating is one digital twin technology which can enable the continuous updating of the structural model as new monitoring data is collected. This paper examines why there is currently little industry uptake of monitoring, modelling and model updating for the operation and maintenance of bridges despite over two decades of research in these fields. The study analyses the findings from a series of semi-structured industry interviews with expert bridge professionals in the U.K. and from an extensive literature survey of bridge model updating studies to examine the disconnects between research and practice and the practical issues of implementing bridge model updating. In particular, the study found that localised damage resulting in local reduction in structural stiffness, a key assumption made in the majority of research, is subject to question by practitioners as many common types of bridge damage may not induce noticeable change in structural stiffness that existing model updating techniques would identify. Key recommendations for future research are proposed to drive adoption of bridge monitoring, modelling and model updating and thus realise their industrial value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy consumption and its related carbon emission of non-domestic complex buildings in an urban context are complicated due to their wide variety of functions and services. A detailed assessment of the carbon emission of such buildings can contribute to decision making for in-operation building management and schematic designs of future proposals. Concurrently, advances in smart meter data analytics and sensor-enabled operational data streams offer the opportunity to investigate this problem at a finer temporal resolution. This research developed a daily carbon emission benchmarking system of a mixed-use building in a UK university. The research period was set at an annual range from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 and was segmented by strategic periods in line with the operation schedule of the building. The daily benchmark revealed the fluctuation of the building's energy consumption and associated carbon emissions. Based on this, a digital twin framework was developed to identify the possible time periods when the building is less carbon efficient and potential building characters that can lead to increased carbon emission in the operational stage compared with what originally expected at the design stage. We discuss how these insights can offer actionable knowledge for user groups such as asset managers and architects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to explore perceptions of the Digital Twin (a three-dimensional digital representation of an anatomical body) on a mobile health application, and the potential mechanisms that are important for behaviour change, with a focus on health and weight management. An explorative and participant-led approach was taken using semi-structured online interviews to explore the experiences of people, in this case non-users and users wanting to independently manage their health. An opportunity sample of forty participants from the United Kingdom (20 who had not used digitally assistive technology and 20 who had) were recruited from social media platforms (22 females and 18 males; mean age was 30). The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using Thematic Analysis. Two main themes were elicited: Initiators of behaviour change (i.e., autonomous choices, social influences, and personalisation) and Barriers to behaviour change (i.e., adverse reactions, weight management norms and negative attitudes). Overall, it was suggested that the Digital Twin should be representative of a user's personalised health information and BMI. These results can inform an intervention designed to use the Digital Twin to initiate and maintain lifestyle behaviour change. It can also develop our understanding of how such technology can be applied as a tool for health management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the UK, the NDE community is making a coordinated effort to underpin and enable the full benefits of the large-scale trend toward comprehensive digitalization and automation of industrial processes and assets, frequently referred to as "Industry 4.0". Certain facets of what is now considered to be NDE 4.0 have been the subject of research for some time and have already gained industrial traction, while others are quite new, with unexplored potential and pitfalls. However, in these areas there is scope for learning from progress in fields outside of, but related to, NDE such as dimensional metrology. This paper reviews progress to date based on UK activities, considers some planned and potential research tasks in this domain, and highlights the major challenges the NDE community must tackle. In particular, as interoperability and data reuse are key features of Industry 4.0 practices, international and cross-domain efforts on data format standardization are needed. It is clear that, without the NDE community stepping up to the challenge, much of Industry 4.0 cannot be realized; yet if the NDE 4.0 vision is implemented comprehensively, NDE has the potential to become more capable, more valuable, and therefore more highly valued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital Twins (DTs) are forecasted to be used in two-thirds of large industrial companies in the next decade. In the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, their actual application is still largely at the prototype stage. Industry and academia are currently reconciling many competing definitions and unclear processes for developing DTs. There is a compelling need to establish DTs as practice in AEC by developing common procedures and standards tailored to the sector's procedures and use cases. This paper proposes a step-by-step workflow process for developing a DT for an existing asset in the built environment, providing a proof-of-concept case study based on the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol (UK). To achieve its aim, this paper (i) reviews the state-of-the-art of DTs in Civil Engineering, (ii) proposes a working DT-based workflow framework for the built environment applicable to existing assets, (iii) applies the framework and develops of the physical-virtual architecture to a case study of bridge management, and finally (iv) discusses insights from the application. The main novelty lies in the development of a versatile methodological framework that can be applied to the broad context of civil infrastructure. This paper's importance resides in the knowledge challenge, value proposition and operation dictated by developing a DT workflow for the built environment, which ultimately represents a relevant use case for the digital transformation of national infrastructure. • This paper reviewed the state-of-the-art of Digital Twins (DTs) in Civil Engineering. • This paper proposes a step-by-step workflow process for DTs. • This paper applied the method for an existing bridge. • This paper presented a preliminary physical-virtual architecture of a bridge DT. • This paper contributes to the knowledge challenge, value proposition and operation dictated by developing a DT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main road widening can reduce the clearance of the low-level underpass road, restricting the passage of vehicles and leading to collisions with structures. Therefore, checking the clearance of the underpass road effectively should be considered at the design stage. This paper describes a digital twin approach for checking the clearance of underpass roads in highway widening projects using online map data. The underpass road digital twin and BIM model of the newly widened road based on the existing main road digital twin are created to assist the clearance check and redesign. The proposed method presented a cost-effective clearance check for underpass roads in road widening design without field surveys and was successfully implemented in an underpass road in the UK. In future research, more digital twin methods for overpasses, bridges, tunnels, and traffic safety facilities should be employed comprehensively to assist more road widening applications. • A novel approach is presented to check the underpass road clearance in the road widening project. • A method for building road digital twins from online map data is proposed. • A systematic method for road widening based on the digital twin is proposed. • According to the clearance check, the underpass road can be redesigned to increase the insufficient clearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highway asset management requires capturing the highway's status. However, the onsite survey of the highway is very costly and time-consuming. This paper presents a novel approach for creating the digital twin of a highway using map data. The digital twin consists of primary highway components, including horizontal alignment, vertical alignment, cross-section, lanes and central reserves. It follows the engineering representation of a highway, which has excellent potential for further application in the field. The proposed approach was tested in a section of the A1(M) motorway in the UK. It requires minimum human input and has very high accuracy. Despite many outliers in the collected map data, the average vertical deviation per square metre between the surface of the generated digital twin and the actual data was at the centimetre level. • A systematic approach is proposed for making the digital twin of a highway based on map data and engineering expertise. • Spatial data for creating the digital twin can be extracted from low-resolution online map data using the proposed method. • An algorithm is developed to fit the horizontal and vertical alignment of a highway. • Outliers in the spatial data of a highway can be identified and removed using the proposed method. • Cross-sections and the overall digital twin of a highway are generated considering various types of highway components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK is home to several major air commercial and transport hubs. As a result, there is a high demand for Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) services to ensure that fleets of aircraft are in airworthy conditions. MRO services currently involve heavy manual labor. This creates bottlenecks, low repeatability, and low productivity. Presented in this paper is an investigation to create an automation cell for the fan-blade reconditioning component of MRO. The design and prototype of the automation cell is presented. Furthermore, a digital twin of the grinding process is developed and used as a tool to explore the required grinding force parameters needed to effectively remove surface material. An integration of a 6-DoF industrial robot with an end-effector grinder and a computer vision system was undertaken. The computer vision system was used for the digitization of the fan-blade surface as well as tracking and guidance of material removal. Our findings reveal that our proposed system can perform material removal, track the state of the fan blade during the reconditioning process and do so within a closed-loop automated robotic work cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]