Karl Girkmann

Karl Girkmann studied civil engineering at Vienna TH. Afterwards, he worked in industry, concentrating in particular on the mechanics problems of overhead lines, which were spreading fast in the 1920s. He gained his doctorate at Vienna TH in 1925 with a dissertation entitled Eisengittermaste belastet durch wechselseitig wirkende Seilzüge, followed by a habilitation thesis with the title Beiträge zur Berechnung von Behältern, which had been inspired by his work in the design office of the Vienna-based steelwork company Waagner-Biró-AG. Girkmann laid the foundations for the ultimate load method for frames in 1931–32. In 1938 came the appointment as full professor of applied mechanics and election to the board of the chair of elasticity and strength of materials at Vienna TH. His book Flächentragwerke, which appeared in numerous editions and various languages, became a milestone in the development of multi-dimensional loadbearing structures in the theory of structures. He was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna in 1950 and awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering sciences by Graz TH in 1955.

Main contributions to structural analysis:

Bemessung von Rahmentragwerken unter Zugrundelegung eines ideal plastischen Stahles[1931]; Über die Auswirkung der „Selbsthilfe“ des Baustahls in rahmenartigen Stabwerken [1932]; Die Hochspannungs-Freileitungen [1938]; Flächentragwerke [1949]

Source: Kurrer, Karl-Eugen The History of the Theory of Structures, Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH, Berlin (Deutschland), ISBN 3-433-01838-3, 2008; p. 733/734