The research in the area of masonry structures has been an area of core expertise of the Chair for decades. This area of focus in teaching and research was further expanded in 1999 through the endowment of a masonry lectureship by the DGFM. The research topics in the area of masonry structures focus mainly on the study of bearing capacity. In particular, the shear bearing capacity of masonry structures under earthquake loading became a core focus in the past years. The pseudo-dynamic method was used in this research and also further developed for application in additional experimental research areas of structural engineering in the context of the so-called “hybrid experimental techniques”. Building on the experience gained from a series of research projects on full-scale masonry walls, a new experimental method for the detailed study of various stress states and their failure mechanisms was developed. As a result, significant improvements are expected with regard to the numerical modeling of masonry structures.
