Structural engineering constitutes the art of designing safe and durable structures balancing the use of resources and the demand for robustness. The focus lies on understanding, modelling and controlling the mechanical behavior of the load-carrying system of a structure and loads it has to withstand. The research in the section covers the following areas and disciplines:

• Steel Structures
• Concrete Structures
• Structural Dynamics
• Numerical Modelling Methods
• Probability and Risk Assessment
• Modelling of Material Physics

Research in the Section for Structures and Safety concerns the immediate response to static and dynamic loading as well as the long-term deterioration progress under cyclic or stochastic loading and covers both theoretical and experimental research areas.

The infrastructure of experimental facilities for structural and material testing at the department and collaboration partners as well as high-performance computation clusters allow for cutting-edge research on the relation between impacts and the robustness of structural systems. The section utilizes the DTU supercomputer cluster (Niflheim) and dedicated equipment for full-scale static and dynamic structural testing and monitoring.

As founding partner, the section is actively involved in the Global Decision Support Initiative (GDSI) at DTU aiming at new decision support tools in Civil Engineering combining Risk assessment and sustainability assessment.