The classical civil engineering subject of structural analysis is dedicated to the (further) development of efficient and reliable methods for mechanical structural analysis based on rigorous research approaches from engineering science. This includes the derivation of structural theories with the help of modern energy and power principles as well as the development of highly efficient numerical procedures by incorporating analytical or semi-analytical solution methods. Areas of application refer to, for example, road, tunnel and bridge construction. In this context, the increasingly complicated mechanical behaviour of modern building materials (e.g. composite building materials) is accounted for realistically. For this purpose, the micro- and nanoscopic physical processes underlying the mechanical material behaviour are identified and upscaled to the macroscopic level using suitable scale transition methods.

This is done with careful incorporation of results from experimental mechanics, where innovative experimental protocols for material and structural tests are developed and carried out, both in the laboratory and in situ, on the basis of theoretically well-founded conceptions. In all these activities, emphasis is placed on cementitious building materials such as concrete, which are currently undergoing rapid development. The surprisingly complex properties of nanoscopic calcium silicate hydrates are of eminent importance for the short-term and long-term behaviour of concrete (elastic stiffness, creep, strength, thermal expansion, shrinkage and swelling with changes of moisture, etc.). Improved understanding of materials, modern multi-scale material models developed from them, and their use in structural simulation contribute to reducing CO2 emissions and to prolonging the service life of key infrastructure made from (reinforced) concrete.