Purposes and Equipment

The laboratory for staircase construction is associated with the structural design area of the civil engineering bachelor's and master's programs and has become one of the leading institutions for prototypical structural design research in the field of staircase construction.

The lab's premises of 86 square meters are located on the ground floor of building D. Its space is divided into a room for sample preparation and the conduction of experiments and a student workroom. Larger objects can be tested in the adjacent spacious faculty lab by arrangement.

Besides the development of new bonding materials, the construction component tests of the staircase construction laboratory also aims at determining the suitability of new materials for staircase building. By comparing practical experiments and theoretical models, using for instance the finite elements methods, researchers can use the available equipment to represent the structural qualities of staircase constructions employing tested models of structural design. The lab not only allows the calculation of strains and stresses, but also facilitates investigating staircase vibration behavior, which is particularly relevant for light staircases.

The results of the research in the staircase construction lab have impacted national and international standardization and are also used as an important basis for putting together guidelines for skilled trades executing staircase construction.

Lab Director: Professor Robert Kanz

Location and Contact
Building D, rooms 216-217
Phone: +49 (0)611 9495-1455
E-mail

Office Hours: Students can apply for receiving a key to the lab and thus have unlimited access.