Replacing scale models of engineering structures with the adoption and use of models defined with digital tools

Abstract It is most likely that at the beginning of the 21st century, with the 4th industrial revolution, we will find ourselves at the borderline between technique and technology. The question underlying this article is whether the technological advance that the construction industry presents today can lead to the full replacement of the technique in the testing laboratories. Decisions on structural systems extracted from these laboratory-made physical models were often accurate, but the cost and time involved made the validation method low-yield. Today, through digitalization, all structural concepts can be directly realized in 3D with software specially designed for the AEC (Architecture, Engineering & Construction) industry. Models made in this way can be developed down to the smallest detail, can be calculated and dimensioned from a structural point of view under different assumptions, and then can be georeferenced and managed from the point of view of assets.