Research Projects

Activities

These are the current Research projects in the classical domains of civil, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Construction & Design

• The design of a special hip-prosthesis made of PMMA for a short-term use in case of a difficult infects: the first human implantation has recently been performedT
• The fatigue behavior for real parts of honeycomb structures used in train carriages and the durability of the core-structureThe investigation of the shear bearing behaviour on flat slabs of steel fibre reinforced concrete with a high reinforcement grad
• Damage assessment of bridges and other civil engineering structures by dynamic testing methods: damage change stiffness and damping properties of the structure, which can be measured by dynamic excitation. Experiments have been performed in the laboratory and on a real bridge before its demolishment (2007 Kirchberg), proving that these methods are easy to use compared to traditional existing ones.The improvement of workability of concrete formulations on the base of different chemical compositions of the used cements was investigated by assessing the correlation between workability and rheological parameters (shear stress, viscosity).
• The production flow of special dies for tires was optimized using “Value stream mapping” (VSM) and identified significant opportunities for waste reduction in the manufacturing flow.
• Development of an innovative wall which allows both to benefit from good mechanical strength, a rapid construction and high thermal resistance.Formulations of self compacting concrete adapted to the regional situation for ready-mix and for precast formulas were tested for CEM III cements.

• Optimierung der Tragfähigkeit von Plexiglas (PMMA) - Hüftinterimsprothesen (+info)
• Optimized Anchor Plates in steel and composite structures with regard to construction management and load bearing capacity  (+info)
• Numerical Simulation and Development of a Simplified Analysis Model for Semi-Rigid, Partial-Strength Composite Connections in Steel- and Concrete (+info)
• Integrated Design Concept of Marine Steel Structures with special Consideration of Corrosion Impact  (+info)
• Ermittlung von Schwingfestigkeitseigenschaften für Leichtbauplatten mit Wabenstrukturen (+info)
• Development and validation of dynamic testing methods to assess the state of civil constructions and their comparison with known assessment techniques (+info)
• Schubtragverhalten von punktförmig gestützten Platten aus Stahlfaserbeton mit Berücksichtigung von Aussparungen in Stützennähe (+ info)
• Granulats / Liants - Compatibilités et Incompatibilités Granulats / Liants / Superplastifiants (+ info)
• Ergänzende Untersuchungen zum Tragverhalten von Flachdecken aus Stahlfaserbeton (+ info)
• Untersuchung der mechanischen und bauphysikalischen Eigenschaften von Betonen auf der Basis von nachwachsenden Rohstoffen zur Herstellung von Wänden und Decken (+ info)
• Charakterisierung der physikalischen und chemischen Wechselwirkungen verschiedener Komponenten von Selbstverdichtendem Beton (+ info)
• Analyse der Kraftübertragung im Kniegelenk (+info)

A further goal is the improvement of product development processes, projects in this area are:

• Enhancement of Project Robustness
• Trans disciplinary Analysis of Design Methodologies and ApproachesImproving systems thinking in engineering design methodologies: a case study of a small space systems integrator
• Modelling of products to enhance communication in interdisciplinary product development teams: approaches, barriers and enablersGenetic Algorithm Based Road mapping: a Method for Product Innovation
• Design of Interactive Products: Enhancing the Motivation of Older UsersGestural Interfaces for Elderly Users
• Modularized and standardize the product design of the conveyor systems for packaging industry

Energy & Environment

• For battery manufacturing laser welding of Non-ferrous metals like Copper and Aluminum was performed.
• A study on the energy consumption of single family homes of different energy standards and the comparison to values from abroad has been finalized and the results published. A new study on administrative and school buildings started recently.
• A new hybrid isolation bloc of concrete is developed responding on the new heat insulation ordinance in Luxembourg.
• Analysis of the mechanical and structural-physical characteristics of concrete based on renewable primary products for construction of building elements.
• A study on the performance of buildings with double skin façades (energy consumptions, comfort, functionality) started
• The production of biogas from energy crops silages has been investigated in laboratory tests. The results give the basis for the layout and construction of a pilot plant and for modeling the degradation.
• A study on the optimization of energy consumption of wastewater treatment plants in Rhineland-Palatinate was finished and published.
• A new study on the use of viniculture residues wastewater treatment plants Luxembourg has been started.
• A study investigating the effects of upgrading of Bleesbrück wastewater treatment plants on the River Sauer has been started.
• An intelligent as well as predictive wireless communicating management of the energy production out of Hybrid Power Systems based on different renewable energy sources is developed in order to ensure a grid-connected as well as stand-alone reliable electrical supply.
• Analysis of the mechanical and structural-physical characteristics of concrete based on renewable primary products for construction of building elements.
• An intelligent as well as predictive wireless communicating management of the energy production out of Hybrid Power Systems based on different renewable energy sources is developed in order to ensure a grid-connected as well as stand-alone reliable electrical supply.
• Heat-up of particulate material on a forward acting grate was successfully predicted by the Discrete Particle Method (DPM).
• A newly developed implicit method to predict the inter-particle forces was implemented into the Discrete Particle Method (DPM)
• The instability of a liquid sheet was investigated by numerical methods (OpenFOAM) and linear stability analysis.
• The atmospheric code AUSTAL2000 was modified to predict the formation and dispersion of emissions such as SO2, NOx, VOC, CO, CO2, O3, PM10 and PM2.5.
• The kinetics of formation of potassium chloride and sulphur dioxide during combustion of switchgrass were determined by the Discrete Particle Method (DPM)
• Orthogonal Recursive Bisection was implemented to run the motion module of the Discrete Particle Method (DPM) on parallel machines
• Within the conversion module of the Discrete Particle Method (DPM) a general model to predict pyrolysis of various materials was developed and validated successfully.
• An implicit method to predict motion of particles was parallelised using a Message Passing Interface (MPI).
• Spatial and temporal stability analysis for a jet and a liquid sheet yielded good results analysing secondary breakup.
• The atmospheric code AUSTAL2000 was successfully integrated into a software to assess pollution of the atmosphere.
• Orthogonal Recursive Bisection as a parallelisation approach within the motion module of the Discrete Particle Method (DPM) was successfully validated and yielded speed-ups of more than 80 %.
• A coupling between the motion module of the Discrete Particle Method (DPM) and Finite-Element Structures was developed and implemented.
• A literature survey on numerical approaches to describe blast furnaces was carried out.
• Ermittlung des tatsächlichen spezifischen Wärmeernergieverbrauchs von neueren Gebäuden in Luxembourg und Ausarbeitung von praktischen Empfehlungen zu dessen Reduktion (+info)

• Der Energieverbrauch neuer Verwaltungs-und Schulgebäude in Luxemburg mit besonderem Schwerpunkt auf den neuen Universitätsgebäuden in Esch-Belval (+info)
• Der energetische Zustand der öffentlichen Gebäude in Luxemburg: Bestandsaufnahme, Analyse, Verbesserungsstrategien (+info)
• Isolation Thermique (+info)  
• Dry fermentation of energy-plants to produce biogas (+ info)  
• Break up of Liquid sheets and Jets (+info)
• Description of mechanical particle interactions by an implicit algorithm (+info)  
• Dependable Instrumentation and Control for Renewable Energy Management Systems using Dedicated and Public Communication Channels  (+info)  

Automation & Mechatronics

• The production flow of special dies for tires was optimized using “Value stream mapping” (VSM) and identified significant opportunities for waste reduction in the manufacturing flow.
• The generation of noise during vibratory pile driving of sheet piles has been investigated in a large real size measurement campaign to find out the influence of sheet pile geometry and different interlock types on the emission of noise. Measurements showed clearly that the interlock system has the main influence on the acoustic behaviour of the system.

• DMGA: Dynamic Modeling of Ground Antennas (+info)

Within the frame of the European civil GPS project Galileo the dynamic modeling of ground antennas is investigated to obtain a very accurate and optimized static and dynamic model of large satellite ground antennas. The mechanical design of the antenna has been validated. Finally the study of the dynamic behavior of the antenna with the analysis of the effect of the drive-train chain has shown a satisfactory matching with the experimental results.

• Analyse et modélisation de la génération du bruit lors du vibrofonçage des palplanches et détermination du potentiel d'optimisation (+info)