Currently offered theses

On this page you will find an overview of theses currently offered at the Institute. Regardless of the language in which the topics are presented below, theses can be written in either German or English. Please do not hesitate to contact the relevant member of staff.

Circular design

Type of thesis Thesis title Contents of the thesis Contact person
BT / MT Development and optimization of the hole pattern for the backing masonry unit made of “Elbbackstein”
  • Literature research on the existing configuration (shape/topology) of the hole pattern for backing bricks – inner leaf brick in cavity wall
  • Development of the hole pattern for backing bricks made of earth masonry, suitable for the newly developed “Elbbackstein”
  • Implementation of key parameters for optimizing the developed hole pattern using the ATOM tools (topology and shape optimization) in Abaqus
 Truong-Diep
Hasenbank-Kriegbaum

start: anytime in 2026
BT / MT Literature review on the state of the art of cyclic tests on masonry walls for determining earthquake load-bearing capacity
  • Literature review on load-bearing earthen brick construction
  • Research on the in-plane load-bearing capacity of conventional masonry and highlighting the differences to earth masonry
  • Compilation of various cyclic tests (boundary conditions, setups) on masonry walls for determining earthquake load-bearing capacity
  • Proposal of an optimized test setup for planned large wall tests
 Nicola Zeitler

start: immediately
BT / MT Research on existing calculation methods for the in-plane load-bearing capacity of masonry walls according to international literature
  • Literature review on load-bearing earthen brick construction
  • Compilation of the state of the art on design methods from international standards for the in-plane load-bearing capacity of conventional masonry under earthquake loading
  • Research on proposed calculation methods for the earthquake load-bearing capacity of masonry walls from current research literature
  • Comparison and identification of differences in the design concepts according to EC 8 for various building materials
  • Examination of the transferability of calculation methods for conventional masonry to earth masonry
 Nicola Zeitler

start: immediately
BT / MT Evaluation of various international calculation methods for the earthquake load-bearing capacity of masonry walls based on comparative calculations of experiments from the literature
  • Literature review on load-bearing earthen brick construction
  • Literature review on the in-plane load-bearing capacity of masonry walls
  • Comparison of various design methods by recalculating experiments and FEM studies for masonry walls under earthquake loading from the literature
  • Examination of calculation methods from international standards and current research literature (considering research literature on conventional masonry walls and earth masonry walls)
  • Investigation and comparison of different influencing parameters such as damping, ductility, and behavior factors
 Nicola Zeitler

start: immediately
BT / MT Development of an alkali-activated binder based on cold-fired earthen bricks, incorporating secondary raw materials
  • Literature review on the alkali activation of clay-based materials and development of a requirements profile for suitable alkali activators
  • Selection and characterization of suitable alkali activators and cold-fired earthen bricks
  • Planning and conducting experimental investigations with systematic variation of raw materials and mixture compositions
  • Development and optimization of a suitable binder formulation, as well as evaluation and scientific interpretation of the experimental results
 Ranwu Xu

start: immediately
BT / MT Investigation of the Transferability of Conventional Evaluation Methods to Earth Thin-Layer Mortar, Considering Consistency, Workability, and Mechanical Testing Procedures
  • Compilation of existing evaluation methods for consistency and workability of standard and thin-layer mortars in conventional masonry
  • Experimental investigations on the workability and material properties of earth thin-layer mortar
  • Prediction of the transferability of existing mortar evaluation methods to earth thin-layer mortar
  • Literature review on the boundary conditions and setups of compression, tensile, and flexural tensile tests on conventional and earth mortars
 Ranwu Xu

start: immediately
BT / MT Implementation of wall experiments: experimental investigation of earthen masonry walls under compressive stress
  • Literature review on the compressive behavior of masonry with various mortar layer thicknesses and on earthen materials
  • Assistance in constructing earthen masonry walls
  • Research on conventional measurement techniques and Digital Image Correlation (DIC); installation of measurement equipment before and during the test
  • Assistance in conducting the wall tests
  • Evaluation of measurement results from conventional measurement techniques and comparison of experimental load-bearing capacities with calculated values based on an analytical design approach for earthen masonry walls under compressive stress
 Ranwu Xu

start: October 2026
BT / MT Numerical analyses of clay masonry wall elements under compressive stress
  • Literature review on the compressive behavior of masonry
  • Development of a finite element (FE) model for simulating wall elements under compressive stress using simplified micromodeling in Abaqus
  • FEM analysis of various material models for bricks, mortar, and brick-mortar interaction; development of an FEM model for estimating load-bearing capacities; and comparison of the results with analytical reference calculations
  • Comparison and calibration of the numerical model based on existing experimental data
 Ranwu Xu

start: March 2027
BT / MT Assessment of Reclaimed Concrete Elements Using Non-Destructive Experimental Investigation Methods
  • Literature review on non-destructive experimental methods for evaluating the condition of reinforced concrete elements
  • Analysis of relevant parameters for assessing material properties and the reusability of reclaimed concrete structures
  • Development of a testing plan for the application of non-destructive methods to reclaimed concrete components
  • Participation in the execution of selected non-destructive investigations
  • Evaluation and assessment of the investigation results with regard to the effectiveness of the applied methods for structural assessment
 Adrian Twardella

start: immediately
BT Analysis of the state of the art of demountable timber-concrete composite components for use in residential and commercial construction
  • Literature review on timber-concrete composite (TCC) systems and their structural design
  • Investigation of current design principles in terms of structural performance, sustainability and effectiveness
  • Analysis of existing joining technologies in terms of their dismountability
  • Presentation and evaluation of current dismountable TCC systems with regard to the design for deconstruction
 Adrian Twardella

start: immediately
BT / MT State of the art and development of concepts for assessing the condition of structural components over their service life in building construction
  • Literature review on existing procedures and methods for assessing the condition of structural components over their service life
  • Analysis of relevant factors influencing the structural condition and load-bearing capacity of structural components over their service life (e.g. material ageing, environmental influences, application)
  • Comparison and evaluation of existing assessment approaches and systems
  • Development of concepts for the systematic recording, assessment and documentation of the condition of structural components
  • Design of experimental investigations to analyse the relevant factors influencing the condition of structural components
 Adrian Twardella

start: immediately
BT / MT State of the art and development of monitoring concepts for condition assessment of (demountable) building components
  • Literature review on existing monitoring approaches and technologies in the construction industry, especially in building construction
  • Analysis of technical and functional requirements for monitoring solutions for demountable components
  • Evaluation of existing sensor technologies and data acquisition methods regarding their suitability for condition assessment
  • Development of concepts for continuous monitoring of component condition
  • Design of an exemplary monitoring concept for demountable components, taking deconstruction and reuse into account
 Adrian Twardella

start: immediately
BT Analysis of the application of fiber optic strain measurement in the field of solid construction
  • Literature research on the state of the art for fiber optic strain measurement, especially regarding application examples in solid construction
  • Research on areas of application for laboratory tests and structural
    monitoring in bridge construction
  • Research on the influence of different fiber types and evaluation methods
  • Comparison of applications and recommendations for action (application,
    robustness, measurement accuracy, etc.)
  • Elaboration of first test series
 Robert Haack

start: immediately
BT / MT Shear Design on existing concrete Bridges and evaluation of design
proposals using databases
  • Literature research on the topic of shear force verification of existing bridges, with a focus on level 2 and level 4 verifications of the
    recalculation guideline BEM ING Part 2
  • Development/expansion of a shear force database for the validation of design approaches with new worldwide shear force tests
  • Extension of the database with relevant parameters for the scientific methods of the extended approaches of level 4
  • Development of an evaluation methodology in Python environment
  • Implementation of a design approach in Python
  • Evaluation of different design approaches on the compiled data sets
 Robert Haack

start: immediately

Urban Mining & AI

Type of thesis Thesis title Contents of the thesis Contact person
BT / MT Decode the Bridge – Old Construction Drawings In, AI & Digital Twin Out
  • No prior knowledge of AI or programming is required
  • Analyze real bridge construction drawings and identify components, properties, and sources of information.
  • Develop a meaningful structure for bridge components and become familiar with standards such as IFC and IDS.
  • Build a small knowledge graph: Which components belong together? What materials are they made of? How are they connected?
  • Connect the knowledge graph with AI and use specific questions to evaluate how reliably the system performs.
 Zhenlin Liu

start: immediately
BT / MT Bridge³ – Three perspectives on the digital structure
  • No prior knowledge of AI or programming is required
  • Transform the plan view, longitudinal section, and cross-section into a common coordinate system.
  • Reconstruct the 3D geometry of selected bridge components and assemble them virtually.
  • Check which components fit together correctly, where unintended intersections occur, and which information in the drawings remains unclear.
  • Link the model with component information so that the geometric objects also contain information about materials, properties, and data sources.
  • Use AI and small scripts to support selected modeling steps.
 Zhenlin Liu

start: immediately

Sustainable building materials

Type of thesis Thesis title Contents of the thesis Contact person