Constructing a Mesh Model of the Construction for Finite Element Method (FEM) Simulation from the Point Cloud Data Collected by Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS)

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in inspecting and evaluating transport infrastructure. Traditionally, these structural data were collected manually by measuring and redrawing the construction against design documents. In recent decades, laser scanning technology can help collect 3D data rapidly and accurately. The 3D point clouds can provide detailed texture and shape information of complex construction such as bridges. This study aims to develop a 3D mesh model for a finite element simulation from a 3D point cloud of a bridge's Pier collected by Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS). The point cloud is structured, and the object boundary points are generated using the marching cube algorithm. The boundary and inside points, which imply the vertex of the solid element in the 3D mesh model, are grouped as a new point cloud. The generated point cloud is input into 3D CAD, and the 3D solid model is manually created. As a result, the 3D mesh model is developed and successfully imported to ANSYS software for the structural behavior simulation. The accuracy of generated mesh model is good, with the relative error of geometric parameters being less than 4%. The distance from the point cloud to the mesh model is approximately 5 mm.