29th Dresden Structural Analysis Seminar

After many years in the World Trade Center - first in the Dresden Comedy, later in the Hotel Elbflorenz - the Dresden Structural Analysis Seminar has moved to the center of the historic old town this year. This year's structural analysis seminar took place at the Hilton Hotel on November 7.

Organized by the Institute of Structural Analysis at TU Dresden, the State Association of Structural Engineers in Saxony and the Saxony Chamber of Engineers, the conference has become a fixture in scientific communication when it comes to disseminating new findings and developments in the field of construction and planning. The organizers once again lived up to this claim this year with a successful mix of specialist presentations.

Right at the beginning, Prof. Dr.-Ing. N. Gebbeken from the Bavarian Chamber of Engineers addressed the current transformations in the construction industry in his lecture "Building type e - building according to the ESEL principle". According to his assessment, unaffordable housing, planetary boundaries and the associated finite supply of raw materials as well as the gigantic CO₂ emissions require a rethink towards simpler and more economical construction. Using the building type e, he showed various approaches for realizing savings potential in the construction industry.

Overview of the presentations in the morning

Building type e - Building according to the ESEL principle
Prof. Dr.-Ing. N. Gebbeken, Bavarian Chamber of Civil Engineers, Munich

Artificial neural networks in structural analysis
Prof. Dr.-Ing. S. Freitag Institute for Structural Analysis, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

Bracing of buildings made of precast concrete elements
Prof. Dr.-Ing. T. Nguyen Institute of Concrete Structures, Graz University of Technology

New modeling approaches for the simulation of innovative mineral composite materials
Prof. Dr.-Ing. M. Kaliske, Institute of Structural Analysis, TUD Dresden University of Technology

Presentation of the Günther Grüning Prize

After the joint lunch break, this year's Günther Grüning Prize was awarded. The Günther Grüning Prize, sponsored by the State Association of Test Engineers for Structural Engineering in Saxony, is awarded annually for outstanding project work (from the 9th semester) or dissertations with topics in the following areas:

• Future-oriented verification methods for stability, serviceability and reliability of structures
• Development of simulation models and numerical methods for structural analysis
• Contributions to the safety assessment of structures.

The prize is endowed with 2,000 euros.

This year's winner is:
Konrad Osterheider for his diploma thesis "Efficient polymorphic uncertainty analyses based on support vector machines"

Presentations in the afternoon

Load test on the Bad Schandau Elbe bridge
Prof. Dr.-Ing. S. Marx, Institute of Concrete Structures, TUD Dresden University of Technology

Background to the new regulations of Guideline 805 for the assessment of engineering structures
Dr.-Ing. M. Bartzsch, GMG Ingenieurgesellschaft, Dresden

Refurbishment of Kehrwiederspitze Hamburg
Dr.-Ing. J. Pontow, Engineering office Dr. Binnewies, Hamburg

Archiv der Avantgarden Dresden - Blockhouse conversion and refurbishment
Dipl.-Ing. C. Kühner,Wetzel & von Seht, Hamburg

"Software for structural analysis" as a dialog platform for software manufacturers and structural engineers
Dr.-Ing. E. Lafuente Hernández, Krätzig & Partner Ingenieurgesellschaft für Bautechnik, Bochum
Prof. Dr.-Ing. F. Fingerloos,Deutscher Beton- und Bautechnik-Verein E.V. Berlin

Closing remarks
Dipl.-Ing. A. Forner, State Association of Test Engineers
for Structural Engineering in Saxony e.V., Leipzig