A modular construction method includes factory-prefabricated room-sized volumetric units. Although low-rise buildings have been constructed worldwide using this method for more than 30 years, it is a relatively new technology in high-rise construction. There are three basic methods of constructing high-rise buildings using modular construction: the core method, the core-and-podium combination method, and the modular in-fill method. While the first two have been used in the USA and in several European countries, the third method, introduced in 2011 by an international cruise ship development firm, is a rather new approach for which there are few case histories. Although the modular in-fill method is being used to construct several dormitories in Korea through public–private partnerships with the Korean government, there have been few applications of this method to construction of high-rise buildings. Therefore, its applicability and construction feasibility should be verified. As a pilot study to test the applicability of the modular in-fill method, a 12-story residential building was built in Korea. This paper describes a case study of the pilot project. The advantages and disadvantages of the method and its applicability in terms of cost effectiveness and construction schedule management were evaluated. The results of this study provide a reference base for advancement of the in-fill method based on an analysis of problems that arose during the construction process for the pilot project.

Bioinspired morphing offers a powerful route to higher aerodynamic and hydrodynamic efficiency. Birds reposition feathers, bats extend compliant membrane wings, and fish modulate fin stiffness, tailoring lift, drag, and thrust in real time. To capture these advantages, engineers are developing airfoils, rotor blades, and hydrofoils that actively change shape, reducing drag, improving maneuverability, and harvesting energy from unsteady flows. This review surveys over 296 studies, with primary emphasis on literature published between 2015 and 2025, distilling four biological archetypes—avian wing morphing, bat-wing elasticity, fish-fin compliance, and tubercled marine flippers—and tracing their translation into morphing aircraft, ornithopters, rotorcraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and tidal or wave-energy converters. We compare experimental demonstrations and numerical simulations, identify consensus performance gains (up to 30% increase in lift-to-drag ratio, 4 dB noise reduction, and 15% boost in propulsive or power-capture efficiency), and analyze materials, actuation, control strategies, certification, and durability as the main barriers to deployment. Advances in multifunctional composites, electroactive polymers, and model-based adaptive control have moved prototypes from laboratory proof-of-concept toward field testing. Continued collaboration among biology, materials science, control engineering, and fluid dynamics is essential to unlock robust, scalable morphing technologies that meet future efficiency and sustainability targets.

Construction firms have long attempted to forecast a project cash flow at the initial stage of a project, which is closely related to the payment conditions and financing schedules. There are, however, diverse risk factors influencing project cash flow, in particular for the domain of international projects, which often fluctuate because of a myriad of external as well as internal uncertainties. In this research, risk factors that impact the soundness of cash flow are classified into two categories: financial risks and project-specific risks. The former refers to the external economic conditions such as exchange rate, cost escalation, and interest rate which can be analyzed through a probabilistic financial algorithm. Then, the project-specific risks such as host country’s geotechnical conditions, weather and climate differences, and resource delivery conditions are further assessed through utility curves to represent the firm’s unique risk perceptions and thresholds to the amount of risk exposures. Results of cash flow forecasts by the proposed approach are compared with the actual cash flow of a retrospective case project. It is found that construction firms better decide on a decent level of cash contingency and the probable net-profit at completion by the adoption of the proposed approach.

Topographic and hydro-climatic features of South Korea are highly heterogeneous and able to influence the drought phenomena in the region. The complex topographical and hydro-climatic features of South Korea need a statistically accurate method to find homogeneous regions. Regionalization of drought in a bivariate framework has scarcely been applied in South Korea before. Hierarchical Classification on Principal Components (HCPC) algorithm together with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method and cluster validation indices were investigated and used for the regionalization of drought across the South Korean region. Statistical homogeneity and discordancy of the region was tested on univariate and bivariate frameworks. HCPC indicate that South Korea should be divided into four regions which are closer to being homogeneous. Univariate and bivariate homogeneity and discordancy tests showed the significant difference in their results due to the inability of univariate homogeneity and discordancy measures to consider the joint behavior of duration and severity. Regionalization of drought for SPI time scale of 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months showed significant variation in discordancy and homogeneity of the region with the change in SPI time scale. The results of this study can be used as basic data required to establish a drought mitigation plan on regional scales.

The exterior surfaces of the free form buildings contain the panels with very complex curvature. While the panels incarnate a symbolic and remarkable building facade in the urban environment, constructing the panels is extremely complex. Because the bigger the curvatures of the panels, the more expensive the construction cost, a free-form building designer needs to perform the process to mitigate the curvatures of the panels at the early design stage without damaging the features of the free-form façade in parallel with estimating the cost to construct the panels (i.e., panel optimization). However, at the upfront design phase, estimating cost of design alternatives and finding a good one that meets both design intention and budget limit is very difficult. Most designers lack understanding, technology, and data on panel optimization. This study suggests how to optimize the panels for free-form facade by using Grasshopper, a widely-used application that a building designer can easily approach as well as how to calculate the construction cost change in conjunction with the optimization process. The panel optimization is mainly carried out by connecting Grasshopper’s continuity analysis function with curvature analysis function. A case study is performed on a recently completed free-form building project in Korea to verify the applicability of the study result.

Recently, due to the global liquidity crisis, construction companies are in bad condition financially. However, by monitoring their cash flows and setting up measures to avoid a liquidity crisis, in a proactive and timely manner, construction companies can manage themselves out of the crisis. This study suggests an algorithm of modeling future cash flow, to be used in the planning stages of projects of construction companies, in order to effectively manage liquidity. Also an algorithm which calculates the optimal cash level by considering elements such as time lags, cost categories and the weights of the cost categories to earned value and budget in the planning stage of a construction project. The algorithm also suggests a forecast of cash flow by comparing the variables of cash-in and cash-out, the output of which is derived through simulations made between such elements as billing time and time lag. Case studies regarding the application of the cash flow forecasting algorithm are also presented. This paper aims to provide a solution for any expected liquidity problems and the implementation of a measure to forecast an adequate cash flow level for construction companies.