News

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24.08.2021

DFAB HOUSE receives special mention at BetonSuisse 21

The DFAB HOUSE demonstrator is the recipient of a external page BetonSuisse21 Award. The awards recognise projects that demonstrate efficient and expressive use of concrete to achieve sensible and innovative design. The jury statement highlighted their appreciation for the innovative use of concrete and new types of concrete techniques and technologies, demonstrated in a real project at the 1: 1 scale. The jury additionally considers it exemplary that the three sub-projects dealing with concrete were developed collaboratively by architects, civil engineers and industry.

The Chair of Concrete Structures and Bridge Design is proud of having contributed to the success of this project.

DFAB HOUSE receives special mention at BetonSuisse 21

08.02.2021

We are proud to share our latest project: Mesh Mould Prefabrication is an innovative patented technology that combines formwork and structural reinforcement into one robotically fabricated construction system.

Thanks to the collaboration between Gramazio Kohler Research and the Chair of Concrete Structures and Bridge Design at ETH Zurich and the industrial partners external page PERI GmbH and external page SIKA AG, this novel method allows for the industrial and full-scale realization of complex curved, steel-reinforced concrete structures without the need for conventional formwork.

It is based on previous extensive research conducted at ETH Zurich and with the support of the external page NCCR Digital Fabrication.

Visit our website for more insights: Mesh Mould Prefabrication

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14.11.2020

Congratulations to Nathalie Reckinger for winning the award external page Prix d’excellence de la Fondation Enovos for her Master’s Thesis Effect of transverse bending on the shear capacity of concrete bridges accounting for the load-distribution between web and deck/bottom flange.

19.10.2020

Conference awards:

Congratulations to Minu Lee and Lukas Gebhard for each receiving an award for their work published at the online conference of the 13th fib International PhD Symposium in Civil Engineering.

Minu Lee won the award for best paper in Innovative Technology granted by École française du Béton for his paper titled Load-deformation behaviour of concrete tension ties with weft-knitted textile reinforcement co-authored by Dr. Jaime Mata-Falcón and Prof. Dr. Walter Kaufmann (external page ResearchGate / DOI).

Lukas Gebhard was awarded the Best Paper Award in the category Innovation in Materials and Structures for his study on the Experimental Investigation of reinforcement strategies for concrete extrusion 3D printed beams co-authored by Dr. Jaime Mata-Falcón, Ana Anton, Prof. Dr. Benjamin Dillenburger and Prof. Dr. Walter Kaufmann (external page ResearchGate / DOI).

13.08.2020

We have published the book "Compatible Stress Field Design of Structural Concrete: Principles and Validation", which is the result of the DR-Design project in collaboration with our industry partner external page IDEA StatiCa. The Compatible Stress Field Model (CSFM) is a new method that can be used for the design and assessment of any concrete structure subjected to in-plane loading and is particularly suited for the dimensioning of “discontinuity regions” such as corbels, deep beams, walls with openings, dapped beam-ends, and frame corners. The CSFM represents a significant step forward for structural engineering practice, as it allows the efficient checking of all design code provisions, including serviceability, load-deformation and deformation capacity aspects even for concrete members with complex geometry. The method is based on Finite Element Analysis and uses only basic material parameters employed in standard structural concrete design.

Compatible Stress Field Design of Structural Concrete: Principles and Validation
Kaufmann W., Mata-Falcón J., Weber M., Galkovski T., Tran D.T., Kabelac J., Konecny, M. et al., Compatible Stress Field Design of Structural Concrete: Principles and Validation, ISBN 978-3-906916-95-8, ETH Zurich & IDEA StatiCa, 158 p., 2020.

The ebook can be bought external page online and the hardcopy will be available soon at the ETH Store.

15.05.2020

The Chair of Concrete Structures and Bridge Design has released the open source software ACDM (Automated Crack Detection and Measurement). ACDM allows the user to automatically detect cracks and obtain the crack kinematics based on the quasi-continuous strain- and displacement field data obtained from digital image correlation (DIC) measurements.

Automated crack detection and measurement based on DIC measurements
ACDM: Evolution of crack pattern and crack widths during loading of a large-scale (2.00 x 2.00m) shear test performed in the Large Universal Shell Element Tester (LUSET). © ETH Zürich
Flowchart of ACDM and the DIC pre-processing steps
Flowchart of ACDM and the DIC pre-processing steps.  © ETH Zürich

ACDM source code and executable are shared to the public on GitLab.

The concept and methods are described in an open access external page article published in the journal Construction and Building Materials

27.08.2019

Switzerland is a country of bridges - many of them were built decades ago. Are they still strong enough or do they have to be strengthened? To answer this question, Walter Kaufmann "tortures" bridge elements in the laboratory until they break - with a unique testing facility for shell elements at ETH Zurich. This might help to avoid unnecessary retrofits of bridges, which are time-consuming and expsenive.

Professor Walter Kaufmann, Chair of Concrete Structures and Bridge Design, talks about that in the workshop discussion (video in German only).

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Workshop Discussion with Prof. Dr. Kaufmann

14.06.2019

The Chair of Concrete Structures and Bridge Design has won the first IBK Science Slam.

Golden Owl Award to Walter Kaufmann

25.11.2018

IDEA-RS, our industry partner in the project DR-Design, has been awarded the "Czech Head 2018" prize - the most prestigious external page Czech award for science and research.

17.11.2018

Walter Kaufmann received the "Golden Owl" at the ETH Day 2018. This award honours lecturers who have provided exceptional teaching and motivates them to continue with their excellent teaching.

Golden Owl Award to Walter Kaufmann

24.08.2018

NZZ featured Download an article (PDF, 213 KB) on the Polcevera viaduct in Genoa based on an interview with Walter Kaufmann and Martin Bimschas.

22.08.2018

Walter Kaufmann moderated the external page Holcim Betontagung 2018 at ETH Zürich.

07.06.2018

At the Concrete Infoday in Dordrecht, NL - an event held by IDEA StatiCa's partners in Benelux - Walter Kaufmann gave a lecture on IDEA Statica Detail.

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"Professor Kaufmann's lecture on IDEA StatiCa Detail", Youtube, 2018

30.01.2018

In the programme external page "Echo der Zeit", Radio SRF featured an interview with Walter Kaufmann on LUSET.  

18.09.2017

The Large Universal Shell Element Tester (LUSET) is featured in the latest edition of Download Globe, the magazine of ETH Zurich and ETH Zurich Alumni (pp. 10-11).

15.09.2017

Martin Bimschas and Walter Kaufmann were awarded the Download Mirko Roš Silver Medal (JPEG, 1.2 MB) for their contribution “An Innovative Deformation-Based System for Monitoring the Structural Safety of Stay-Cables” at the SMAR 2017 Conference.

SMAR 2017_Mirko Ros Silver Medal Award

30.06.2017

We congratulate Juan José Arenas, founder and owner of the engineering firm Arenas&Asociados (where Walter Kaufmann was working from 1999-2002) on receiving the IABSE International Award of Merit in Structural Engineering, one of the highest international distinctions in structural engineering. For details see the external page full article and the external page list of award recipients.

29.06.2017

At the Empa and Eawag NEST building in Dübendorf, eight ETH Zurich professors - one of which is the professor of Concrete Structures and Bridge Design - are collaborating with business partners to build the three-storey DFAB HOUSE. It is the first house in the world to be designed, planned and built using predominantly digital processes. For details see press release.

Computer generated visualisation of the DFAB HOUSE

08.06.2017

The first pilot test in the Large Universal Shell Element Tester (LUSET) was successfully carried out on 08 June 2017. The official inauguration of the testing facility is planned for August.

LUSET Pilotversuch
LUSET Pilotversuch

14.03.2017

Mesh Mould Project Team Receives Concrete Innovation Award at CIC 2017

After the Swiss Technology Award 2016, the Mesh Mould project team  was also awarded the Concrete Innovation Award at the Second Concrete Innovation Conference (CIC) in Tromsø, Norway. The jury particularly valued the interdisciplinarity of the project. More information on the CIC and the project «Mesh Mould» can be found on the external page project website.

Dr. Jaime Mata Falcón has contributed to this research project as one of the main collaborators. The chair for concrete structures and bridge design is once again highly pleased with this award.

25.11.2016

Mesh Mould receives Swiss Technology Award 2016

Yesterday, the project team behind the novel building technology «Mesh Mould» received the Swiss Technology Award in the category «Inventors» at the 11th Swiss Innovation Forum in Basel. The award ceremony was attended by around 1000 opinion leaders from Swiss economy, politics and society. «Mesh Mould», which was developed by researchers of ETH Zurich, allows to build load-bearing concrete elements of any shape without formwork. More information on the award ceremony and the project «Mesh Mould» can be found on the external page project website.

Dr. Jaime Mata Falcón has contributed to this research project as one of the main collaborators. The chair for concrete structures and bridge design is highly pleased with this award.

25.11.2016

LUSET Actuators installed

The installation of the Large Universal Shell Element Tester (LUSET) is proceeding fast. The assembly of the reaction frame which consists of an in-plane frame with external dimensions of 9.6 x 9.6 m and an out-of-plane frame that extends ca. 2.8 m in the out of plane direction was completed in August. The 100 hydraulic actuators have also been installed and currently the control hardware is being set up. In the coming weeks, the control system will be implemented and tested.

04.11.2016

Mesh Mould is a Swiss Technology Award 2016 Finalist

The external page research project Mesh Mould successfully qualified for the final of this year’s Swiss Technology Award. The innovative building technology, which has been developed by an interdisciplinary research team of ETH Zurich within the framework of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication, promises to revolutionise the construction of steel-reinforced concrete structures through the combination of the two commonly separated functions of formwork and reinforcement. The pdf of the press release can be downloaded Download here.

Dr. Jaime Mata Falcón has contributed to this research project as one of the main collaborators. The chair for concrete structures and bridge design is highly pleased with this nomination.

14.09.2016

On September 5/6, our group organised a Workshop of fib Working Party 2.2.1, chaired by Prof. Kaufmann and Prof. Bayrak (University of Austin, Texas). The workshop was attended by 30 participants from 4 continents.

fib workshop participants
First row (left to right): O. Bayrak, B. Belletti, A. Muttoni, W. Kaufmann, S. Foster. Second row (left to right): T. Hrynyk, J. Hegger, M. Collins, M. Herbrand, R. Vollum, S. Hong, B. Mihaylov, A. Uzel Third row (left to right): D. Nguyen, A. Beck, V. Nguyen, K. Reineck, J. Kolleger, L. Hagsten, J. Fisker, M. Fernandez, J. Sagaseta Fourth row (left to right): T. Huber, P. Huber, D. Dunkelberg, J. Mata-Falcon, C. Ribas Fifth row (left to right): P. Marti, E. Bentz, D. Karagiannis

04.08.2016

On Tuesday, 13. September 2016 the symposium on current topics and developments concerning bridge design (Aktuelle Fragen und Entwicklungen im Brückenbau) takes place at ETH Hönggerberg. The meeting is co-organised by our group. Please find further information for registration, costs, and schedule under external page Bau & Wissen.

14.07.2016

Large Universal Shell Element Tester (LUSET)

The installation of the Large Universal Shell Element Tester (LUSET) is currently underway. The reaction frame consisting of an in-plane frame with external dimensions of 9.6 x 9.6 m and an out-of-plane frame that extends ca. 2.8 m in the out of plane direction is being assembled in the structural engineering labratory of ETH. In the coming weeks, the different parts will be welded together. In August and September, the installation of the hydraulic components (20 control valves and 100 hydraulic actuators) will take place. The first tests with the new testing facility are planned for the end of this year.