New Materials and
Material Compounds in Civil Engineering

Today, it is primarily new quality features that are required of building materials and structures. These include multifunctional requirements, e.g. for façades and other space-enclosing components, increased durability requirements and the optimization of energy use in the production and operation of buildings. In view of the fact that these requirements are also placed on the existing building fabric, "building in existing structures" is of particular importance. In addition to the functionality of building materials during their service life, their reusability and recyclability are playing an increasingly important role. The abbreviated term "sustainable building" is often used to describe these comprehensive topics. In this sense, the focus area "New materials and material compounds" deals with the "hardware" of sustainable construction.

The focus is supported by the specialist areas

• Construction materials and construction chemistry
• Building preservation and timber construction
• Solid construction
• Steel and composite construction
• Structural mechanics/structural dynamics
• Construction and maintenance of transportation routes

The main areas of work

• New, high-performance concretes
• Adhesive bonds and fiber composites in construction
• Earthquake-proof construction and substructure technology and
• material modeling

have been supported by public and private research funding in recent years. Other promising areas of work currently include the following topics

• Renewable raw materials for load-bearing components and
• Reuse and recycling of building materials in traffic route construction
• Nanotechnology for building materials

fit perfectly into the focus area.

In principle, all individual topics of the focus area are dealt with in a networked manner within the Institute of Structural Engineering. Where necessary, e.g. for economic issues and in connection with questions of sustainability, the opportunities for cooperation within the department are utilized - for example in close cooperation between the IKI and the Institute of Civil Engineering, the Institute of Water, Waste and Environment and the Institute of Transportation.

The focus on "New Materials and Material Joints" also enables the expansion of the already initiated cooperative collaboration on design issues with the Department of ASL, with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, e.g. with regard to the manufacturing and joining techniques suitable for structures made of high-performance concretes or for the application of these new materials for flexible, traffic-adapted structures of the transport infrastructure. CINSAT is also directly involved in the nanotechnology research projects.