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 Investigation of the effects of the uncertainty in material properties on the structural behaviour and the load-bearing capacity of dry-stacked masonry wall under compression
  • Literature research on spatial variability and correlation in stochastic analysis in the form of Monte Carlo simulations and on the scattering of material parameters (compressive strength, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, etc.)
  • Investigation of the spatial variability of material properties using stochastic analysis, demonstrated by 3D numerical modelling using Latin Hypercube sampling
  • Parameter studies on the influence of the coefficient of variation of the material properties, the spatial correlation of the material properties on the load-bearing capacity. Alternative options for MA-thesis: additional parameters: wall length, wall slenderness
  • Thesis possible in both ENG and DEU
 Truong-Diep
Hasenbank-Kriegbaum

start: immediately
BT / MT Development and optimisation of the interlocking system of the concrete dry-stacked masonry (DSM) block for masonry walls subjected to seismic load
  • Literature research on existing configuration (shape / topology) of interlocking system in DSM walls and investigation of structural behaviour and load-bearing capacity of the DSM wall under static and dynamic load
  • Development of the interlocking system for DSM wall
  • Implementation of key parameters to optimise the developed interlocking configuration using ATOM (Topology and Shape Optimisation) tools in Abaqus
 Truong-Diep
Hasenbank-Kriegbaum

start: immediately
MT Investigation of the influence of key parameters on the reliability of the load-bearing capacity of dry masonry walls under concentric and eccentric compressive loading using a sensitivity analysis
  • Literature review on the load behavior and load-bearing capacity of masonry walls under concentric and eccentric compressive loading
  • Research on the fundamentals of stochastic methods and procedures for assessing the reliability of structures
  • Development of the finite element model in Abaqus and conducting stochastic simulations using Python to calculate the compressive load-bearing capacity of dry masonry, considering the variability of material properties and geometric parameters
 Truong-Diep
Hasenbank-Kriegbaum

start: March 2025
MT Investigation of the influence of different interlocking configurations on the shear load-bearing capacity of dry masonry walls made of lightweight concrete blocks under earthquake loading
  • Literature review on the load behavior and seismic load-bearing capacity of (dry) masonry walls under shear loading
  • Research on the geometric shape of different interlocking configurations
  • Development of the finite element model in Abaqus to calculate the shear load-bearing capacity of dry masonry under earthquake loading, considering different parameters and the shifting geometry for the interlocking configurations
 Truong-Diep
Hasenbank-Kriegbaum

start: immediately
BT / MT Conducting large wall tests: Experimental investigation of earth masonry walls under shear loading
  • Literature review on the shear load-bearing behavior of masonry, various failure modes, and the building material earth
  • Assistance in the construction of earth masonry walls and production of concrete beams for load application
  • Research on conventional measurement techniques and Digital Image Correlation (DIC), installation of measurement equipment before and during the experiment
  • Assistance in conducting large wall tests
  • Analysis of the measurement results from conventional measurement techniques and comparison of experimental load-bearing capacities with calculated values based on an analytical design approach for earth masonry walls under shear loading
 Annika Becker

start: December 2024
BT / MT Analysis of large wall tests: Investigation of earth masonry walls under shear loading
  • Literature review on the shear load-bearing behavior of masonry, various failure modes, and the building material earth
  • Research on conventional measurement techniques and Digital Image Correlation (DIC)
  • Analysis of the measurement results from conventional measurement techniques and the DIC measurement system, and comparison of the results
  • Development of an analytical design approach for earth masonry walls under shear loading
  • Comparison of experimental load-bearing capacities with calculated values based on the analytical design approach for earth masonry walls under shear loading
 Annika Becker

start: January 2025
BT / MT Numerical investigations of wall structures made of earth masonry – Shear loading
  • Literature review on the shear load-bearing behavior of masonry
  • Development of a FE model for modeling wall structures under shear loading using simplified micromodeling in Abaqus
  • FE investigation of various material models for stones, mortar, and stone-mortar interaction, development of a FE model for estimating load-bearing capacities and failure modes, comparison of results with analytical reference calculations
  • Comparison and calibration of the numerical model based on available experimental data
 Annika Becker

start: immediately
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 Experimental investigation of detachable connections for ceiling support systems made of prestressed carbon concrete
  • Literature review on the topic of prestressed carbon concrete slabs (CPC slabs) and possible detachable connection methods
  • Development of potential connection variants for joining CPC slabs
  • Planning, execution, and evaluation of tests on connection variants
  • Recalculation of the variants and comparison with the test results
 Thomas Klos

start: April 2024
BT / MT Modeling the load-bearing behavior of detachable connections in ceiling support systems made of prestressed carbon concrete
  • Literature review on the topic of prestressed carbon concrete slabs (CPC slabs) and possible detachable connections for them
  • Development of a FE model using Abaqus to realistically represent the connections and determine their respective load-bearing capacities
  • Comparison of different connection geometries
 Thomas Klos

start: July 2024
BT "Development of a modular, demountable ceiling support system made of prestressed carbon concrete slabs for use in commercial and residential construction
  • Literature review on the topic of prestressed carbon concrete slabs (CPC slabs) and possible detachable connection methods
  • Literature review on the topic of modular construction
  • Development and elaboration of detachable connections and modular constructions made from CPC precast elements
  • Comparison and calculation of various construction and connection variants
 Thomas Klos

start: immediately
BT / MT Investigation of the effects of manufacturing tolerances on the deformation behavior of modular, carbon-reinforced concrete components
  • Literature review on the material and deformation behavior of carbon-reinforced concrete components
  • Literature review on modular construction, detachable connections in concrete structures, and their manufacturing tolerances
  • Calculation (if necessary using FE modeling) of the deformations of a modular support system under varying tolerances
  • Evaluation and analysis of the calculation results
 Thomas Klos

start: immediately
BT / MT Experimental investigation of the shear force bearing behaviour of prestressed CPC plates
  • Literature research on the topic of shear force approaches of non-metallic reinforced plates, focussing on the influence of prestressing
  • Planning, execution and evaluation of tactile tests on the shear force load-bearing capacity of plate strips
  • Recalculation using various design approaches and comparison with the test results
 Ludwig Remmel

start: immediately
BT / MT Experimental investigation of prestressing anchorages for non-metallic reinforcement products
  • Literature research on the topic of non-metallic reinforcement, focussing on its application with prestressing
  • Planning, execution and evaluation of small-scale tests on the application of prestressing forces in non-metallic reinforcements
  • Analysing the test results and processing the findings
 Ludwig Remmel

start: immediately
MT Numerical analysis of the shear load-bearing behaviour of prestressed carbon concrete slabs
  • Literature research on the topic of shear force approaches of non-metallic reinforced slabs, focussing on the influence of prestressing
  • Development of a numerical model
  • Recalculation of component tests and evaluation of influencing parameters
 Ludwig Remmel

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

Sustainable building materials

Type of thesis Thesis title Contents of the thesis Contact person