Bachelor's/Master's thesis/student research project (civil engineering/environmental engineering)
The ecological properties of timber panel elements – in particular their low greenhouse potential, low material intensity and efficient, low-energy manufacturing processes – have now been comprehensively documented by science. Timber panel construction thus makes a key contribution to decarbonisation strategies in the building industry. Technically mature timber panels of high quality in terms of living standards have been produced for many decades. Topics such as prefabrication, short construction times, the use of dry building materials, CAD-CAM integration and digitalisation were already on the curriculum of the few technical colleges that dealt with timber construction in the early 1990s – today they are standard in timber construction.
The aim of the research work at IBHolz is to develop fully recyclable wood panel elements whose components can remain in the material cycle for as long as possible in line with the principles of "urban mining" and "design for recycling/reuse". The extraction and processing of secondary building materials from dismantled wood panel elements is intended to establish genuine circular economy value creation – in the sense of a cradle-to-cradle approach – i.e. a return from the recycling company to the supplier industry and on to new products. The research work is based on the following key questions:
- How can timber panel components be dismantled on site without causing damage and be broken down for selective separation at the factory or reuse?
- What methods can be used to separate the building materials used in timber panels at reasonable cost in order to obtain secondary materials that are as pure as possible?
- To what extent are the materials currently used actually recyclable in the long term in terms of a closed material cycle?
- Can the recyclability of the panel be significantly improved by using alternative fasteners – as a replacement for conventional staples and screw connections – and alternative layer structures?
Within the scope of these research questions, IBHolz offers various areas of focus for a final thesis.
Depending on the type of thesis (bachelor's/master's thesis), the specific content of the thesis can be adapted for civil engineers or environmental engineers. The content of the thesis can therefore be partially or completely
- in the field of design (including stability failures such as buckling and bulging or bracing), possibilities for realising connections,
- in the field of material flow analysis and life cycle assessment, or physical research into recyclable panel building materials.
- in the field of test-based analysis of connections or the dismantling of components.
Thanks to our collaboration with our practice partners, there is an explicit opportunity to carry out parts of the work in the technical centre/laboratory or at a timber construction company.
